


Forgotten

by Shadowhunter_Artemis



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Memory Loss, Time Travel, doctor who - Freeform
Language: Dansk
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-25
Updated: 2020-01-04
Packaged: 2020-01-31 18:21:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 23,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18596872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadowhunter_Artemis/pseuds/Shadowhunter_Artemis
Summary: A onetime acquaintance of the Doctor ends up on being discovered on Earth by Sarah Jane with no memory of who and what she is. An eventual reunion with the Time Lord leads to a promise of helping her remember. But this may prove to be a challenge as the only thing the Doctor knows about her is her name.





	1. prologue

Sarah Jane walked along the pavement, her breath coming out in small white puffs in the cold January air. Normally she wouldn’t be out so late but she just needed to get some air. She stopped when she saw figure stumble out of the shadows across the street. Sarah Jane quickly crossed the road when the person collapsed to its knees. As she drew closer, she saw that it was female. She also noticed that she was injured.

The woman flinched when Sarah Jane reached out “It's ok”, she said gently “I’m not going to hurt you. I just want to help”. The woman looked at her for a moment and nodded. Sarah Jane carefully grasped her arms and helped her to her feet. “You look like you've been in an accident”, she stated “why don't I get you to hospital?”

The woman frantically shook her head. “I really think you should”, Sarah Jane insisted. The woman shook her head again and this time Sarah Jane could see that she was scared.

Why was she scared? Did she not like hospitals or was it something to do with whatever had just happened to her? Either way trying to take her to hospital will more than likely make her freak out even more. There was only one thing she could to. Take her back home and check over the injuries herself. “Ok. I’m going to take you home and check you over, make sure you’re not seriously hurt”, Sarah Jane said “Is that alright?”

The woman looked at her for a moment before she nodded. Sarah Jane put the woman’s arm over her shoulders and wrapped one of hers around the woman’s waist. She then walked, supporting the injured female to her home. It didn’t take her long to get to 13 Bannerman Road as she wasn’t very far from it to start with.

\----------------

Sarah Jane led the woman to the upstairs bathroom, sat her down on the toilet seat and proceeded to inspect her injuries. Luckily none of them appeared to be too serious. “Wait here, I’ll get you some clothes so you can freshen up”, Sarah Jane said. It was going to be easier to tend the wounds when they were clean compared to them being covered in blood and dirt. The woman nodded and Sarah Jane left.

She went to her bedroom, selected a fresh t-shirt and a pair of pyjama shorts from her drawers and went back to the bathroom. “You can use these”, she said holding the clothes out to the woman who took them “theres a clean towel on the shelf”, Sarah Jane nodded to it “leave your stuff outside the door”. The woman nodded again and Sarah Jane left her to it. The brunette waited a little ways down the hall way for a minute until the bathroom door opened and the woman’s clothing was dropped onto the floor. The bathroom door then closed. Sarah Jane picked up the bundle and took it down stairs.

The clothes were too damaged to bother keeping but she wasn’t going to throw them out in case there was something in the pockets the woman may want to keep. While she waited for her guest to come downstairs, Sarah Jane got out the first aid kit and got two mugs of tea ready.

She wasn’t waiting too long, about ten minutes, before the woman joined her in the kitchen. Sarah Jane had her sit down at the table so she could tend to her wounds. “Sorry”, she said apologetically when the woman winced as she dabbed at the various cuts and scrapes. The woman just inclined her head as if to tell her not to worry about it. “I’m Sarah Jane”, Sarah Jane said, introducing herself “whats yours?”

The woman looked at her apologetically and shrugged. “You don’t know your name?” Sarah Jane asked. The woman shook her head “Do you remember anything? Your age? Where you live?” another head shake “you’re injured, were you in an some kind of accident? Or were you attacked?” a third head shake.

_Ok, this was going to be tricky_ Sarah Jane thought as she continued applying first aid. It appeared to be a case of amnesia most likely brought on by trauma which would account for the injuries. Perhaps there was something in the woman’s clothing that would give an indication of who she was. Sarah Jane pushed aside the first aid kit and set a mug of tea in front of the woman. “It’s tea. It’ll help”, she assured her. The woman gave her a small smile and a nod of thanks.

Sarah Jane picked up the bundle of clothes, set them onto the table and started to go through the pockets. The woman watched, taking tentative sips of the hot beverage in her mug. There wasn’t anything in the trouser pockets but there was a couple of things in the jacket. One was a necklace and the other was a communicator of some sort. It wasn’t something she’d seen before. Maybe some kind of radio? Unfortunately there was nothing to tell her who her mystery guest was.

“Do any of these look familiar to you?” Sarah Jane asked pushing them towards the woman. She touched the necklace and then the communicator. She then looked up at Sarah Jane and shook her head. “That’s ok, I’m sure it’ll come you”, Sarah Jane said. She sat down, pulling her own mug of tea towards her “I know we’ve only just met but I’d like to help you regain your memories”.

The woman jumped up from her chair went over to Sarah Jane and hugged her. “You’re welcome”, Sarah Jane said after the woman sat back down again “And as you don’t know your name, we’re going to have to come up with one”.

The pair finished up their drinks and then Sarah Jane took her to the living room. “Maybe you can find inspiration for a temporary name in one of these”, Sarah Jane said gesturing to a tall book case filled with books of varying topics and author. She watched the woman go over to the shelves and gently running her fingers over the spines of the books. She pulled one out took one look at it and shook her head. This happened a couple of times before she looked at Sarah Jane with an apologetic expression.

“Never mind”, Sarah Jane said “I'm sure we'll think of a name for you”. The woman sat down on the sofa looking rather dejected. Sarah Jane joined her “It's going to be ok”, she assured her “I'm not going to give up. I didn't when I was thinking of….” she trailed off when it suddenly came to her. The name she was going to give to her daughter should she ever have kids. As it was that possibility was highly unlikely but that didn't mean her amnesiac guest couldn't use it. “What do you think of the name Charlotte?” she asked.

The woman tilted her head, considering it. She then nodded with a smile. “Charlotte it is then”, Sarah Jane said “we can figure out last names later”.

The newly named Charlotte hugged her happily.


	2. Flue Blues part 1

Charlotte shivered and pulled the thick blanket tighter around herself. She really despised being sick. And of course having still not recovered her memory despite being it being months since she was saved by Sarah Jane, made her feel much worse. If she could’ve have remembered getting sick then Sarah Jane wouldn’t have to ‘baby’ her. She’d be able to take care of herself.

Another shiver racked through her body, making her pull the blanket even closer to her body. Ooh how she wanted to get her hands on that damn mutant squid-fish thing that had gotten her sick in the first place. She and Sarah Jane had been investigating an unusual sighting down by the Portsmouth Docks when all of a sudden the creature they were looking for had grabbed her and dragged her into the water.

Charlotte had been very lucky in landing a hit on the creatures weak spot forcing it to release her. but of course thanks to the bloody thing, she was now battling the frigging flu.

Sarah Jane was currently out at the moment, following up on a lead about their mutated aquatic friend. Apparently it had been sighted on the banks of the River Lea, one of London’s lesser known waterways. So there was nothing more she could do except try to sleep off the thing that was keeping her confined to her nest of blankets on the sofa.

\-------------------

The curly haired woman was roused hours later by Sarah Jane shaking her shoulder. She moved her hands from under the blankets and clumsily signed ‘What’s wrong?’

Thanks to the flu, she now had a sore throat which made speaking tricky. Luckily Charlotte knew sign language, saving her from writing notes. She’d learned it during the first 6 weeks of her stay with Sarah Jane and it proved to be a far more effective way of communicating during the period when she wasn’t talking. Sarah Jane had chalked her temporary muteness up to whatever trauma she’d been through.

 “Take a look at the TV”, Sarah Jane said. Charlotte eased herself into a sitting position and squinted at the TV where some brunette woman was speaking. The tickertape at the bottom told her that it was Harriet Jones, MP for Flydale North.

“The crisis has passed! Ladies and Gentlemen, I have something to say to you all! Mankind stands tall, proud and undefeated. God bless the human race”, the woman said.

The screen changed back to the BBC studio “that was the speech given by Harriet Jones outside the ruins of number 10 Downing Street. The building had been destroyed by a missile allegedly fired by a submarine in the Royal Navy”, the female reporter said “the Navy are currently denying this”.

Charlotte looked at Sarah Jane, stunned ‘did I just miss an alien invasion?’

“We both did”, Sarah Jane admitted. She’d been to busy trying to capture the squid-fish mutant that she hadn’t been made aware of what had supposedly gone down at number 10 until she’d passed a TV shop where the ones in the window were displaying the news.

Charlotte glanced at the TV and then back at Sarah Jane ‘do you think the Doctor saved the day?’ she questioned. Sarah Jane had told her stories about the Time Lord she used to travel with.

“I have no doubt that he did”, Sarah Jane replied. Charlotte reached out and gave hand a gentle squeeze when she saw the woman’s expression turn wistful.

‘You miss him’, she signed.

“Yeah, I do. Some days more than others”, Sarah Jane admitted.

‘Do you think you’ll ever see him again?’ Charlotte asked carefully.

Sarah Jane shook her head “I don’t think so”, she said.

‘You never know Sarah Jane. Your paths may cross at some point’, Charlotte said optimistically.

“Maybe”, Sarah Jane said, though highly doubtful.

A couple of hours later…

Charlotte paused at the front door, giving the stairs a wary look. Sarah Jane had gone up to the attic to do some work but she had no idea when she’d be back down. It was better if Sarah Jane didn’t catch her leaving. If the older woman did, then she’d more than likely force her to stay on bedrest until she was better.

Charlotte knew that is wasn’t a good idea to leave the house given how ill she was but she just needed to get out for a little bit, get some fresh air. She opened the door and slipped out, quietly closing it behind her.

She slowly walked down path and along the pavement. Charlotte had only been out for roughly 10 minutes when she started to feel really light headed. _Better get back_ she thought _preferably before I pass out_. She turned and slowly headed back the way she came.

~13 Bannerman Road~

“Charlotte I’m all done with my work”, Sarah Jane said entering the living room “would you like…” she trailed off seeing that the curly haired woman wasn’t in her nest of blankets. “Charlotte?” she called. No answer. Sarah Jane checked the kitchen, no Charlotte. She then looking in the downstairs bathroom. Nothing.

Sarah Jane went out into the hallway and that’s when she saw it. Charlotte’s shoes were no longer by the front door! “Why on earth would you go out?” Sarah Jane muttered as she hastily pulled on her own shoes, grabbing her keys from the hook before dashing out of the front door.

One road away, the Doctor wandered about. He wasn’t sure why the TARDIS had alerted him to this particular area as everything looked pretty normal. He was going to have to check her over to make sure everything was running properly.

The Time Lord turned and started back towards where he’d parked the TARDIS when he noticed something across the road that made him stop. It was a woman. She was walking incredibly slowly, hugging a thick cardigan around her body. Suddenly she collapsed causing the Doctor to rush over to her. When he brushed her hair back to check for a head injury, the Time Lord’s twin hearts stopped.

He knew that face. Granted he’d only seen her once before but he would know her anywhere. “Ziva”, he breathed.

The Time Lord got another shock when he heard a rather familiar female’s voice shout “Charlotte!” he looked up to see his former companion Sarah Jane quickly approaching. “What happened?” she asked when she reached him and the unconscious woman.

“She just collapsed”, the Doctor explained, still shocked by the arrival of Sarah Jane “I couldn’t leave her here”.

“I’m glad you didn’t”, Sarah Jane said “my house isn’t far. Can you help me get her there?”

The Doctor nodded “of course”, he said. He carefully picked up Charlotte and with Sarah Jane in the lead, he carried her to his companion’s home.

\--------------

“I really appreciate this”, Sarah Jane  said as the Doctor placed Charlotte on the sofa, on top of the nest of blankets “I have no idea why she thought it was a good idea to leave in the first place” she shook her head “I’m Sarah Jane by the way”.

“The Doctor”, the Time Lord said.

Sarah Jane’s mouth dropped open slightly as she stared at him. She had no idea this guy was the Doctor given that he looked so different from when she last saw him years ago. “Doctor…” she said quietly “you’ve regenerated”.

 “A few times since we’ve last met”, the Doctor said.

“You look good”, Sarah Jane remarked.

“As do you”, the Doctor countered.

Sarah Jane shook her head “I got old”, she lightly retorted. 

“So who is your friend?” The Doctor asked nodding to the still unconscious woman. It was curious that Sarah Jane had called Ziva, Charlotte. Why would she do that unless the curly haired woman had given her a different name but for what reason?

“She’s someone I met a few months back”, Sarah Jane replied “found her injured not too far from here. No memory”.

“And now?” the Doctor questioned.

“She still doesn’t remember and not for the lack of trying either”, Sarah Jane answered “I know she will, its just a matter of time”, she added. Despite a few months of not finding out anything on the amnesiac, Sarah Jane was still optimistic that Charlotte will recover her memory. They just had to be patient and stay hopeful.

“I might be able to help”, the Doctor said “I met her once before. She helped me with a little Skovox Blitzer problem”.

“Did she share anything with you?” Sarah Jane asked hoping that the curly haired woman had.

“Just her name. Ziva”, the Doctor replied. Sarah Jane looked down at Charlotte/Ziva. It wasn’t much but at least she now learned her guest’s name which was a start.


	3. Flue Blues part 2

“How long do you think it’ll be before she wakes up?” the Doctor asked Sarah Jane. They’d moved to the kitchen to get some tea.

“I don’t know”, Sarah Jane replied honestly “It could be an hour. It could be more. She h-“ the woman broke off when they heard a loud bang. The Doctor and Sarah Jane rushed out of the kitchen and back into the living room to find Charlotte in a heap on the floor, tangled up in blankets. “What happened?” Sarah Jane asked going over to.

‘Tried to get up. Got tangled’ the curly haired woman explained. The Doctor noted how she was using her hands to communicate instead of speaking. Sarah Jane carefully extracted Charlotte from the blankets and as she was doing so Charlotte noticed the Doctor. She patted Sarah Jane on the arm and pointed.

“Oh, that is the Doctor”, Sarah Jane said after glancing to where she was pointing.

‘ _THE_ Doctor? As in blue box?’ Charlotte asked.

“Yes. That Doctor”, Sarah Jane confirmed.

‘Told you didn’t I? I said you’re paths may cross again’ Charlotte said with a smug smile on her face.

“Yes, you did”, Sarah Jane admitted. She helped the woman to her feet and back onto the sofa “you know, that was a very silly thing you did. Leaving the house when you’re not well enough”, Sarah Jane continued putting a couple of blankets around Charlotte.

‘I know. I’m sorry Sarah Jane’ she said having the decency to look apologetic ‘I just wanted to get some fresh air’.

“It still wasn’t clever”, Sarah Jane lightly scolded “if the Doctor hadn’t found you…”. Charlotte took hold of Sarah Jane’s hand and leant against her. The older woman rested her head on top of the younger woman’s. It was clear to the Doctor that they seemed to have some sort of bond between them. He stood there not wanting to ruin the moment but he also wanted to talk to Sarah Jane’s house guest.

“Uh…Sarah Jane? Do you mind if I talk to Charlotte for a minute?” the Doctor asked.

“Sure”, Sarah Jane replied “I’ll be in the kitchen”, she told Charlotte who nodded. Sarah Jane got up and left the room. As soon as she was gone, the Doctor joined Charlotte on the sofa.

“Charlotte, do I seem familiar to you?” he questioned. The woman shook her head.

‘I only know of you because of Sarah Jane. She spoke of her adventures’, Charlotte explained ‘though you look different to what she described. Guessing you regenerated since last seeing Sarah Jane’.

“I have, a few times”, the Doctor answered “may I ask, why do you use sign language? Is it because of your illness?”

Charlotte nodded ‘its difficult to talk verbally so I sign. Its more faster and more effective than writing notes’.

“You’re very good at it”, the Doctor remarked.

Charlotte raised her hand to her mouth and then moved it downwards, the Doctor having the ability to speak 5 billion languages and including the knowledge of several variants of sign language, knew that she was thanking him. ‘I’ve had time to learn’, Charlotte explained.

“Charlotte, I know you don’t recognise me but we have met once before”, the Doctor said.

Charlotte seemed to brighten at this. Was she finally going to get some answered as to who she was? ‘Really? Where?’ she asked.

“It was a while ago. You helped me with a little problem”, the Doctor answered. He felt a little bad for being vague but he felt that it would be too much for her to know that they met on a different planet.

‘Did I tell you anything about me?’ Charlotte questioned.

“You told me your name: Ziva”, the Doctor replied.

‘Ziva’ Charlotte repeated, her hand signs a bit clumsy as if she was trying out the name ‘anything else?’

The Doctor shook his head and Charlotte’s shoulders slumped “But I would be willing to help you find out who you are. Possibly even get your memories back”.

The curly haired woman smiled and hugged the Time Lord. She moved back and gave him a very enthusiastic ‘thank you’.

“You’re welcome”, the Doctor said.

A few days later Charlotte’s flu subsided meaning that she was well enough to join the Doctor on his travels. “Are you sure you don’t want to pack anything for your trip?” Sarah Jane asked as Charlotte shrugged on her jacket.

“I’m sure”, she replied “according to you the TARDIS can provide everything I’ll need. Food…clothing…books”.

“So you don’t want to take these two with you?” Sarah Jane questioned holding up Agatha Christie’s _Poirot Investigates_ and _Murder on the Orient Express_. During her stay at the house Charlotte had seemed to develop a liking to reading Agatha Christie novels.

“Actually, I will take those”, Charlotte said taking the books from her “thank you Sarah Jane. For everything you’ve done”.

“You’re welcome Charlotte”, Sarah Jane said. She had started to call her Ziva but at the younger woman’s insistence switched back to the ‘temp’ name. Charlotte claimed that she wasn’t ready to take on the name having been used to ‘Charlotte’ for the past few months. Sarah Jane understood.

“I would like to come back an visit, if that’s ok”, Charlotte said tentatively.

“Of course its ok!” Sarah Jane said “this is your home as much as it is mine”. Charlotte put the books down and hugged the woman tightly.

“Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” she said happily earning a laugh from Sarah Jane.

“You’re welcome”, Sarah Jane said. They looked towards the window when they heard the sound of the TARDIS appearing.

“Looks like my ride is here”, Charlotte said. She and Sarah Jane left the house “I’ll keep you updated on my quest to find out who I am”, Charlotte promised.

“You better”, Sarah Jane said “or there will be consequences young lady”, she added in a mock warning tone.

“Yes, mum”, Charlotte said cheekily. She then walked down the path towards the blue box, Sarah Jane watching her go with a fond shake of the head. Meeting Charlotte was probably the best thing that had happened to her since well…meeting the Doctor. And she glad to have met the amnesiac. In a way she regarded the young woman as the daughter she never had. Very fitting that she gave her the name Charlotte.

“Be safe”, she said quietly as the engines of the TARDIS started up and little by little the box began to disappear until it was completely gone. 


	4. Museum Menace part 1

As soon as the Doctor set the TARDIS into the Time Vortex, he turned to Charlotte who was looking around the console room in awe. As much as he'd like to let her get used to his ship being bigger on the inside, there was a more important matter at hand. Her memories. He had to see whether Charlotte's memories were still there but just buried deep down or the more troubling theory, her memories had been taken from her. 

“I would like to take you to the med bay. Just to check on your health. Is that ok?” the Doctor asked.

“Sure”, Charlotte replied. Rose watch them walk off into the depths of the TARDIS. She was still in two minds about having the amnesiac on board. She could understand why the Doctor invited her. He'd met her before. So maybe the Time Lord could help Charlotte remember who she was. But she's also concerned that the woman could possibly be a liability due to her lack of memory.

Yes, she'd gotten into trouble a few times in her travels with the Doctor. However, she at least had an awareness of the potential danger out there in the universe. Charlotte didn't. She could all of them at risk without even meaning to. Perhaps she should gently suggest to the Doctor that Charlotte stay in the TARDIS, for the time being at least.

~med bay~

Charlotte sat in the hospital style bed as the Doctor scanned her with his sonic. “Well, you are in perfect health”, the Doctor reported looking at the results.

“That's good”, Charlotte said happy to hear that.

“There is something else I would like to do, with your permission”, the Doctor said. He wasn't sure how she'd react to this next bit but it was kind of important to determine what's happened to her memories.

“And what's that?” Charlotte asked.

“I'd like to take a look inside your mind”, the Doctor answered. When she looked alarmed, he quickly added “just to check for your memories. It'll be a quick peek and it won't hurt, I promise”.

Charlotte looked at him for a moment before she nodded. “What do I have to do?” she asked.

“Close your eyes”, the Doctor replied.  The curly haired woman did so and the Time Lord placed his fingers on her temples, closing his eyes as well.

He wasn't looking through her mind for long when he frowned. There didn't seem to be anything prior to Charlotte meeting Sarah Jane. How could that be? Unless...her memories really had been taken.

No, they had to be here. He just had to go a little deeper. The Doctor tried to do just that but all he found was nothing. Absolutely nothing. Not even a fragment of memory from their meeting a few years ago. His twins hearts sank. He had hoped that they'd be there, just deeply buried in her subconscious. This meant it was going to be a bit more of a challenge to discover who this woman really was.

The Doctor removed his hands from Charlotte's temples and opened his eyes. “You can open your eyes now Ziva”, he said. The brunette did so.

“Did you find anything?” Charlotte asked hopeful. It made the Doctor's hearts hurt even more by her expression. She trusted him to help her. How could he tell her that her memories were gone? It would crush her. No, he wouldn't tell her the truth. Not until he found out what happened.

“I did...sort of”, Doctor answered.

“What do you mean? Sort of?” Charlotte questioned, confused.

“Well…” the Doctor had to choose his words very carefully for this next bit “I found a wall in your mind. Your memories have been blocked off but that's normal for anyone who's been through any sort of severe trauma”.

“Will I be able to remember anything?” Charlotte asked “from before?”

“It'll come back to you in time Ziva. Just don't force yourself to remember”, the Doctor said gently.

“I've waited a few months for my memories to come back, I can wait a few more”, Charlotte said. The Doctor relaxed when she said this. He was glad that she'd bought his explanation. How long she'll be willing to wait before she gets frustrated and demanding answers, he didn't know. But at least he'd bought himself a few months to find out the truth. “Though I do have a little favour to ask you”, the brunette continued.

“What is it?” the Doctor asked.

“Would you mind calling me Charlotte instead? I know Ziva is my real name but it just doesn't feel like _my_ name. I realise that doesn't make sense but…”

“Actually, it does make sense”, the Doctor said, gently cutting in. He understood why she'd preferred Charlotte to Ziva. The only memories she had was a lot being Charlotte, the name that Sarah Jane had picked out for her. So if that made her feel more comfortable, then he shall call her Charlotte until she says otherwise. “And if that’s the name you feel comfortable with, then that’s what we’ll call you”, he said.

“Than –“ Charlotte started when the lights started to flash “whats going on?” she asked.

“I don’t know”, the Doctor replied, equally as puzzled as she was. They left the med bay and hurried back to the console room where Rose was, looking rather startled by what was going on.

“I didn’t touch anything I swear!” she insisted “it just started going crazy”.

“We’ve received a distress signal. The TARDIS was trying to tell us by flashing her lights”, the Doctor said looking at the scanner.

“That’s pretty clever”, Charlotte remarked.

“You might want to hold on to something”, the Doctor warned. Charlotte and Rose barely managed to grab hold of the console before the Doctor sent the box flying through the vortex.

When the TARDIS finally materialised, it was in a large, darkened room. The trio didn’t leave the box just yet as they were trying to determine where they were by using the scanner. “Well we’re on Earth”, the Doctor reported looking at the information displayed which to the females looked like a bunch of interlinking circles “Utah, North America. 2012”.

“God, that’s so close”, Rose muttered “I should be about…26”, she guessed.

“I don’t know how old I’d be”, Charlotte said quietly “don’t even know how old I am now”. The Doctor placed a comforting hand on her back.

“Maybe you should stay in the TARDIS for this one”, Rose suggested carefully “we can go somewhere…nicer afterwards”.

“No, I’m not going to let my lack of memory stop me from helping”, Charlotte said.  

“I think Rose might be right on this”, the Doctor agreed. He could see his companion’s reasoning for having Charlotte stay in the safety of the TARDIS.

“I’m not staying behind”, Charlotte said firmly “I don’t know who I was before but this me doesn’t turn her back on anyone who needs help. Sarah Jane taught me that” the latter part was directed at the Doctor.

The Time Lord sighed “you can come with us but you stick with me at all times. Don’t wander off”, he said sternly.

“Ok, I’ll stick with you and not wander off”, Charlotte promised.

“Good”, the Doctor said, satisfied with her answer. The three of them then left the TARDIS.

“Is there lights in this place?” Rose asked squinting in the darkness “can’t see a thing”. The Doctor felt around on the wall for such a switch and when his fingers came into contact with one, he flicked it on. Light flooded the place showing them rows of glass cases.

“Its museum”, Charlotte remarked walking over to the nearest case, peering into it. Behind the glass was a lump of rock.

“An alien museum”, the Doctor corrected eyeing the cases that surrounded them “Someone's got a hobby”. He started walking, Rose and Charlotte following him “They must have spent a fortune on this”, he muttered “Chunks of meteorite, moon dust…that's the milometer from the Roswell spaceship”, the Doctor added naming them as they passed the cases.

Rose then noticed something familiar in one of the cases “That's a bit of Slitheen! That's a Slitheen's arm. And it’s…stuffed”, she said eyeing it with disgust.

“Ah! Look at you!” the Doctor said seeing something else in another case. It was the head of a Cyberman that looks like it was falling apart.

“What is it?” Charlotte asked.

“An old friend of mine…well, enemy. The stuff of nightmares reduced to an exhibit. I'm getting old”, the Doctor replied. Charlotte glanced at him curiously. He didn’t look old at all but then again, thanks to Sarah Jane, she knew he was much older than he looked. It was just the body he’d chosen for this particular regeneration.

“Is that where the signal's coming from?” Rose questioned nodding to the robot head.

“Nah, its stone dead”, the Doctor said, staring intently at the Cyberman head “The signal's alive. Something's reaching out, calling for help” he places the tip of his finger on the glass. Immediately an alarm and they’re promptly surrounded by soldiers all pointing their guns at the trio.

“If someone's collecting aliens, that makes you Exhibit A”, Rose said putting her hands up.

The trio didn’t have to wait long before they were promptly escorted into a rather large office by a ginger haired woman named Diana Goddard.

“What does it do?” Van Statten asked Adam who was showing him his latest purchase.

“Well, you see the tubes on the side? It must be to channel something. I think maybe fuel”, Adam guessed.

“I really wouldn't hold it like that”, the Doctor cut in seeing how Van Statten was holding the item in his hands.

“Shut it”, Godard snapped. Charlotte raised a brow at her rudeness. The Doctor was only pointing out the fact that the American was holding the thing wrong. No need to be rude about it.

“Really, though, that's wrong”, the Doctor insisted.

“Is it dangerous?” Adam asked.

“No, it just looks silly”, the Doctor replied reaching for the item. Several security personnel readied their weapons making him pause. Van Statten held up a hand, signalling the men to lower their weapons. He then handed the object to the Doctor. “You just need to be...” the Time Lord gently stroked the item and it made a pleasant noise “Delicate”.

“It’s a musical instrument”, Van Statten remarked.

“And it’s a long way from home”, the Doctor added.

Van Statten stood up “Here, let me”, he said snatching it from him. The Time Lord raised his eye brows at the man. Van Statten tried to replicate what the Doctor was doing but he only made harsh sounds which caused Charlotte to cringe a little.  

“I did say delicate. It reacts to the smallest fingerprint. It needs precision”, the Doctor said. Van Statten changed his touch on the instrument and pleasant sounds “Very good. Quite the expert”, the Time Lord commented.

“As are you”, Van Statten said.

Much to the dismay of the Doctor, he carelessly tossed the instrument aside. Even Charlotte was a little annoyed at how he just threw it away like it was nothing. “Who exactly are you?” Van Statten asked.

“I'm the Doctor. And who are you?” the Doctor asked with a new disdainful look in his eye.

“Like you don't know. We're hidden away with the most valuable collection of extra-terrestrial artefacts in the world, and you just stumbled in by mistake”, Van Statten.

“Pretty much sums me up, yeah”, the Doctor confirmed.

“The question is, how did you get in? 53 floors down, with your little cat burglar accomplices” the man looked at both Rose and Charlotte “You’re quite a collector yourself, they’re rather pretty”.

“Keep looking at us like that and I’m gonna smack ya”, Rose warned feeling thoroughly uncomfortable under his leering gaze.

“Me too”, Charlotte agreed. Van Statten seemed to brighten up when she spoke. Her accent wasn’t like anything he’d heard before.

“My…we have an exotic beauty in our presence”, he remarked “say something else”.

“She’s not some performing animal”, the Doctor said, deciding to step in. He didn’t like the way Van Statten was eyeing Charlotte…like she was some kind of rare object. “Now who the hell are you?”

“This is Mr Henry Van Statten”, Adam introducing the American man.

“And who's he when he's at home?” Rose asked.

“Mister Van Statten owns the internet”, Adam answered.

Charlotte rolled her eyes. She may not remember who she was but she definitely knew that nobody owned the internet. When she voiced this, a look of pure glee crossed Van Statten’s face.

“And let's just keep the whole world thinking that way, right kids?”  he said giving Charlotte a wink causing the Doctor to shift protectively in front of her.

“So, you're just about an expert in everything except the things in your museum. Anything you don't understand, you lock up”, he accused, glaring a little at the man.

“And you claim greater knowledge?” Van Statten asked.

“I don't need to make claims, I know how good I am”, the Doctor said.

“And yet, I captured you. Right next to the Cage. What were you doing down there?” Van Statten asked.

“You tell me”, the Doctor countered.

“The cage contains my one living specimen”, Van Statten explained “you’d find it fascinating my dear”, he added, leaning to one side to look at Charlotte. He only got the briefest glimpse of the brunette before the Doctor blocked his view once again.

“And what's that?” the Time Lord demanded.

“Like you don't know”, Van Statten retorted.

“Show me”, the Doctor challenged.

“You want to see it?” Van Statten shot back.

“Blimey, you can smell the testosterone”, Rose commented and Charlotte hummed in agreement. Van Statten turned to Goddard.

“Goddard, inform the Cage we're heading down” he then turned his attention to Adam “You, English. Look after the blonde. Canoodle or spoon or whatever it is you British do “to the Doctor and Charlotte he said “You, Doctor with no name and exotic beauty…come and see my pet” with that Van Statten walked towards the lift.


	5. Museum Menace part 2

“We've tried everything”, Van Statten stated stopping outside the heavy door of the Cage “The creature has shielded itself but there's definite signs of life inside”. He turned, entered a code in the panel next to the door and it slid open.

“Inside?” the Doctor frowned “Inside what?”

“Welcome back, sir”, Simmons said stepping out, wearing a protective suit “I've had to take the power down. The Metaltron is resting”.

“Metaltron?” the Doctor asked brow raised. He’d seen and heard of a lot of things but never Metaltron. It sounded made up.

“Thought of it myself”, Van Statten said proudly “Good, isn't it?” he cast a glance at Charlotte who didn't entirely impressed. No matter, she'd be impressed by the actual thing, he was sure of it. “Although I'd much prefer to find out it's _real_ name”.

Simmons turned to the Doctor and Charlotte “Here, you'd better put these on….” he held out two pairs of thick protective gloves “The last guy that touched it burst into flames”.

“I won't touch it then”, the Doctor said not taking the gloves from Simmons.

“Me neither”, Charlotte said earning her a look from the Doctor. She just shot one back telling him that she wasn't staying outside the ‘cage’. There was something inside that needed help and she be damned if she was going to hang back because it might not be safe.

“Go ahead, Doctor” Van Statten gestured at the doors “Impress me”. He stepped back as the Doctor and Charlotte entered the Cage. “Don't open that door until we get a result”, Van Statten quietly said to a guard as they turned their attention to the monitor in order to keep an eye on what was going on in the room.

Inside the room dubbed as the Cage, it was dark except for a single blue circle of light. “Look I'm sorry about this”, the Doctor said with all sincerity he could muster “Mr Van Statten might think he's clever but never mind him. We've come to help. I'm the Doctor and this is Charlotte”.

“Hello”, Charlotte said politely.

“Doc-tor” came a voice the Doctor thought he would never hear again, not after what he did to end the Time War.

“Impossible”, he breathed, his voice one of shock. Charlotte glanced at him. His tone of voice was telling her that this ‘metaltron’ was something he hadn't expected to come across. Van Statten's pet was not a friendly.

This was made more evident when the room suddenly lit up, revealing the Dalek chained in the middle of the room. Now Charlotte could see the look of pure horror on the Time Lord's face.

The Doctor quickly grabbed her and pulled her over the door, making sure to shield her from the Dalek as it cried out “Exterminate!”

“Let us out!” the Doctor shouted banging on the door, his hearts hammering a mile a minute. He needed to get out right now! Not only was he locked in a room with his greatest enemy but Charlotte was here too! The Doctor continued the bang on the door, all the while making sure that he was still protecting brunette with his body.

“You are an enemy of the Daleks!” the Dalek proclaimed waving it's gun around. From over the Time Lord's shoulder, Charlotte just about noticed that the alien wasn't firing at them.

“It's not shooting at us”, she said quietly, her voice with a slight tremor as she'd been scared by the Dalek's war cries. She like the Doctor was sure it was about to shoot at them.

The Time Lord glanced back at the Dalek and saw she saw right. He looked back at her “Stay here”, he lightly ordered and Charlotte nodded her head. The Doctor stepped back away from her and turned to the Dalek. “Look at you. Powerless”, he said gleefully “the great space dustbin. How does it feel?” Charlotte watch him lunge toward the Dalek.

“Keep back!” it cried, straining against it's chains trying to keep away from the Time Lord.

“What for?” the Doctor asked looking it straight in the eyepiece “What are you going to do to me?” he waited a beat before continuing “If you can't kill...then what are you good for Dalek? What's the point of you?” the Time Lord circled the Dalek, the alien following his movements. Charlotte also watched the interaction between them. She could feel the hostility in the air but didn't dare step in. “You're nothing”, the Doctor spat at the Dalek “What the hell are you here for?”

“I'm waiting for orders”, the Dalek answered.

“What does that mean?” the Doctor demanded.

“I was bred a soldier. I was bred to receive orders”, the Dalek replied.

“Well you're not going to get any”, the Doctor told it “not ever”.

“I demand orders!”

“They're never gonna come!” the Doctor said, his voice rising “your race is dead! You burnt, all of you. Ten million ships on fire, the entire Dalek race wiped out in one second”.

“You lie!” the Dalek cried.

“I watched it happen. I MADE it happen!” the Doctor shouted. Charlotte's eyes widened at this admittance.

“You destroyed us?” the Dalek questioned. The Doctor turned from the Dalek and distanced himself before he spoke quietly. 

“I had no choice”

Charlotte saw his stance change, going from angry to looking like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders.

“And what of the Time Lord's?” the Dalek asked.

“Dead. They burnt with you. The end of the last great Time War. Everyone lost”, The Doctor confessed. Charlotte looked at him sadly. She should've been horrified at what he'd just admitted to but she couldn't not with how broken...how lost he looked.

“And the coward survived”, the Dalek added.

“Oh and I caught your little signal...help me...poor little thing”, the Doctor said mockingly “But there's no one else coming ‘cos there's no one left”.

Behind him the Dalek lowered it's eyepiece. “I am alone in the universe”, it said almost sadly or as sadly as it could considering it was a Dalek.

The Doctor smiled “yep”, he said sounding to Charlotte at least like he was choked up with emotion.

“So are you”, the Dalek said and the Doctor's  smile faded

“No, you're not”, Charlotte spoke up making the Doctor look at her. He didn't see any hatred in her eyes, instead there was just sadness. Sadness for him. She walked forward and took his hands “your people still live. Maybe not psychically but they're still alive in your memories. As long as you remember them, they'll ever be truly gone” she gave him a soft smile “And you'll never be alone because I will stay with you even after I remember who I am”.

The Doctor looked at her, touched by her words. Never had he been more grateful for the TARDIS alerting him to something seemingly random because it had brought the woman he'd met years ago back into his life at the time when he needed it the most.

“You and I are the same Doctor”, the Dalek spoke up, breaking the moment completely.

The Doctor pulled his hands out of Charlotte's and span around the face the Dalek, his anger having returned “We're not the same, I'm not…” he trailed off realising that maybe they _were_ the same in which case he knew exactly what the Dalek deserved. Charlotte watched him walk over to a lever mounted on a wall and pulled it down. Much to her horror the Dalek started to get electrocuted!

“Have pity!” the Dalek screamed.

“Why should I? You never did”, the Doctor said turning up the voltage.

“Doctor stop it!” Charlotte said loudly over the Dalek's screams. The Doctor didn't listen to her. He just kept the electricity flowing straight to the Dalek. Charlotte walked over to him with every intention of pulling him away when the door suddenly opened and a couple of guards marched in. One grabbed the Doctor and forcibly removed him from the room, the Time Lord struggling the whole way.

The other guard took her arm and none too gently propelled her from the room. Charlotte stumbled a little when she was pushed into a lift, the Doctor's arms being the only thing that stopped her from falling.

A moment later Van Statten stepped into the lift with Goddard and another security guard. The American man pressed a button and the lift start to ascend. “What is a Dalek?” Van Statten asked.

“A Dalek is a nightmare, a mutation. The metal casing it's in is just the battle armour, housing the creature inside”, the Doctor explained, still holding onto Charlotte. She wasn't exactly complaining though, there was something about being in his arms that made her feel safe irrespective of the fact that she'd just learnt he'd killed all his people and the Daleks. “The Dalek race was genetically engineered, every single was removed except hate”

An impressed look crossed Van Statten's face “Genetically engineered...by whom?” he questioned.

 

“By a genius, Van Statten. By a man who was king of his own little world”, the Doctor answered “you'd like him”.

“It's been on Earth for over fifty years, sold at a private auction, moving from one collection to another”, Goddard spoke up “Why would it be threat now?”

“Because it knows I'm here”, the Doctor said simply.

“How did the Dalek end up on Earth?” Charlotte asked.

“Records say it came from the sky like a meteorite, Goddard replied “it fell to Earth on the Ascension Islands, burnt in its crater for nearly three days before anyone could get near it and all that time it was screaming. It must've gone insane”.

“Must've fallen through time”, the Doctor remarked “the only survivor”.

“You talked about a war?” Goddard queried.

“The Time War. The final battle between my people and the Dalek race”, the Doctor said quietly.  Charlotte gently squeezed his hand and gave him a small smile when he glanced at her.

“But you survived too”, Van Statten pointed out.

“Not by choice”, the Doctor admitted.

“This means that the Dalek isn't the only alien on Earth, Doctor, there's you. The only one of your kind in existence”, Van Statten said eyeing the Time Lord.

Before they knew it, Charlotte and the Doctor had been taken off to examination rooms though neither of them went quietly. The curly haired brunette managed to landed a brutal blow to one of her captors when they were trying chain up her wrists, it was right where the sun doesn't shine. Her other captor quietly sniggered at his colleagues misfortune. It had served him right for standing in front of the prisoner when he was binding her wrist.

The injured guard stepped back to stand near the door, hand over his…thing. Van Statten then entered the room, barely raising a brow at the way one of his employee's was standing. “She got in good kick sir”, the other security guard explained.

“Lovely accent and a feisty nature”, Van Statten said giving Charlotte a look that made her want to hurl...or give him a kick where the sun doesn't shine...whichever came first “Lets see if you have anything else that makes you special”.

Van Statten turns on a machine and it fired some sort red beam over the woman's torso, scanning her. Charlotte gave a small cry as the beam runs over her skin. It was bloody painful!

An image of her rib cage appeared on a wall monitor showing her singular beating heart. “Nothing”, Van Statten muttered, disappointed. He had hoped that she'd have something else to make her different. Maybe he needed to leave it on a little longer...The American nodded. Yes, that's what he'll do. Charlotte watched Van Statten walk out of the room, leaving the machine on. Her face scrunched up and she let out a scream.

This sound filtered through the air and into the examination room two doors down where the Doctor was being held. “What the hell are you doing to her!?” The Time Lord demanded as Van Statten strolled into the room, the door shutting behind him, cutting off the screams.

“Just a little examination”, Van Statten answered.

“Examination? It sounds like your torturing her!” the Doctor said angrily, the Oncoming Storm just simmering beneath his skin, only needing a little nudge to be let out “if you've hurt her I swear you'll regret it”.

“Oh really?” Van Statten said raising a brow skeptically “No offense Doctor but you aren't in any position to make threats. Now smile!” the American turned on the machine in the Doctor's room and proceeded to scan the Time Lord. He grimaced, moaning lightly as it scanned him. If this was what Charlotte was being put through then it was no wonder she was screaming. It hurt!

An image of his rib cage appeared on a wall monitor showing his two hearts beating within it. “Two hearts!” Van Statten said gleefully “Binary vascular system! Oh, I'm so going to patent this”.

“So that's your secret. You don't just collect this stuff, you scavenge it”, the Doctor said angrily.

“This technology has been falling to Earth for centuries”, Van Statten scoffed “All it took was the right mind to use it properly. Oh, the advances I've made from alien junk. You have no idea, Doctor. Broadband? Roswell. Just last year my scientists cultivated bacteria from the Russian crater, and do you know what we found?” the Doctor stayed silent, opting to glare at him. He really wanted out of these chains! “The cure for the common cold. Kept it strictly within the laboratory of course. No need to get people excited. Why sell one cure when I can sell a thousand palliatives?” the American smiled smugly.

“Do you know what a Dalek is, Van Statten?” the Doctor asked “A Dalek is honest. It does what it was born to do for the survival of its species. That creature in your dungeon is better than you”.

“In that case, I will be true to myself and continue”, Van Statten replied, walking back to the scanner.

“Listen to me! That thing downstairs is going to kill every last one of us!” the Doctor shouted, frantically.

“Nothing can escape the Cage”, Van Statten stated, dismissing the Doctor’s worry. He turned on the scanner again, watching the Doctor writhe in pain.

“But it's woken up!” the Doctor exclaimed “It knows I'm here! It's going to get out. Van Statten, I swear, no one on this base is safe! No one on this planet!”

The American just ignored him and turned the scanner on again.


	6. Museum Menace part 3

Everything hurt. Every single part of her body felt like it was on fire. Charlotte whimpered, her throat having gotten pretty sore from all the screaming. She wanted to throw up. She wanted to pass out. But the shackles were stopping her from doing the former and the bloody machine was keeping her on the verge of falling unconscious.

Suddenly the machine was cut off. Charlotte let out a sob of relief as she had a reprieve from the constant pain from the beam. The shackles around her wrists sprang open and she fell forward into the Doctor’s arms. “Doctor”, she whispered looking up at the Time Lord overjoyed that he’d saved her. Then she passed out, the pain having been too much for her to handle.

The Doctor gathered the unconscious woman in his arms, his hearts aching at the state she was in. He was most definitely going to do something to Van Statten for putting her through the ‘examination’. It was nothing short of torture especially for a human who had a lower pain threshold than he did. Of course he could do anything to the moronic ape just yet, he still needed him…unfortunately. But as soon as the Dalek had been dealt with then he was going to show Mr I-own-the-internet exactly why he had the moniker, Oncoming Storm. The Time Lord turned and walked out of the room, carrying Charlotte to the lift.

~Office~

The Doctor crossed the room and gently set Charlotte down against a wall. Ideally he’d have taken her back to the TARDIS where she’d be much safer but he unfortunately he didn’t have time to make that particular detour. “Look after her”, he said to Goddard who nodded. She understood that what Van Statten had done to both of them was wrong and felt a truckload of guilt over the unconscious brunette. If she hadn’t been so afraid that she would have her mind wiped and dumped in a random place…she would’ve tried to stop the examination. All she could do now is look after Charlotte and hope to redeem herself. The ginger moved over to the curly haired brunette and sat down.

The Doctor went over to a monitor mounted on the wall which showed the camera feed of just outside the Cage. “You've got to keep it in that cell”, he ordered.

Having heard his voice, Rose glanced at the small monitor “Doctor, it's all my fault”, she said, her voice full of guilt. The Time Lord rolled his eyes. Of course she’d be the reason the Dalek had a sudden lease of life. He really knew how to pick them, didn’t he?

“I've sealed the compartment. It can't get out, that lock's got a billion combinations”, one of the guards informed them.

“A Dalek's a genius. It can calculate a thousand billion combinations in one second flat”, the Doctor countered. Sure enough the door to the Cage opened mere moments later.

“Open fire!” Bywater ordered. He and the soldiers shot at the Dalek.

“Don't shoot it! I want it unharmed!” Van Statten shouted seeing all this on the monitor.

“Rose, get out of there!” the Doctor called to his companion but the blonde just stood there. _Seriously? Run you stupid girl!_ He thought.

The Dalek advanced on the group, the bullets doing nothing to slow it down. Bywater turns to the female guard who was standing next to them. “De Maggio, take the civilians and get them out alive. That is your job, got that?”

The woman nodded “You, with me”, she ordered to Rose and Adam before turning and hurrying away. The pair follow after her.

The Dalek glided up to the monitor near to the Cage and smashed it, absorbing the electricity. The alien wails as its damaged outer casing slowly bends back into shape, thanks to the electricity now coursing through it. The rust fades away, bringing the Dalek back to its former glory.

“Abandoning the Cage, sir”, Bywater said into his mouthpiece.

~Office~

“Doctor!” Goddard called as Charlotte began to stir. The Time Lord hurried to Charlotte’s side.

“It hurts”, she mumbled.

“Where does it hurt?” the Doctor asked gently. Goddard got up and went over to the computer to find out what the Dalek was up to as she’d seen it smash the monitor near the Cage.

“Everywhere”, Charlotte answered, eyes pricking with tears “I want to go to the TARDIS”, she pleaded. It hurt the Doctor to hear that tone in her voice, on the verge of tears. He wished that he could take her to the TARDIS but he couldn’t right now.

“The second the Dalek is stopped we will go to the TARDIS”, the Doctor promised “I just need you to hold on for a bit. Can you do that?”

Charlotte nodded, wincing at the action “yeah…I-I think I can”, she said. The Doctor leant forward and pressed a light kiss to her forehead.

“Rest”, he said quietly “we’ll be back in the TARDIS before you know it”. He watched her close her eyes before standing up and going over to where Goddard was still working at the computer.

“We're losing power. It's draining the base”, she reported. Her eyes then widened at what she saw on the screen “Oh, my God. It's draining entire power supplies for the whole of Utah”.

“It's downloading”, the Doctor stated.   

“Downloading what?” Van Statten asked.

“Sir, the entire West Coast has gone down”, Goddard said looking at the computer screen worriedly.

“It's not just energy”, the Doctor said “That Dalek just absorbed the entire internet. It knows everything”.

“The Daleks survive in me!” they heard the Dalek declare over the audio just before there was a sound of its weapon being fired. Then static.

“The cameras in the vault have gone down”, Goddard said as she tried to check the other feeds.

“We've only got emergency power”, the Doctor said.

“All guards to converge in the Metaltron cage, immediately”, Goddard called into the comm.

~corridor~

With De Maggio in the lead, she, Rose and Adam ran past a group of guards that were on their way to the cage. The moment they’d disappeared down the corridor, Bywater rushed up to the guards. “Cover the north wall”, he ordered “Red division, maintain suppressing fire along the perimeter. Blue division…” he broke off and screamed as the Dalek shot him in the back “argh!”

The other guards fire upon it but the bullets melt before they could even touch the armour. The Dalek exterminates another. More guards appear behind it, surrounding the alien, also shooting at it. But even with the extra men, it did no good. All it did was increase the number of casualties as the Dalek killed them one by one.

~Office~

“Tell them to stop shooting at it!” Van Statten shouted at Goddard hearing the gun shots.

“It's _killing_ them! Goddard argued.

“They're dispensable. That Dalek is unique” Van Statten leaned forward over the comm “I don't want a scratch on its bodywork, do you hear me? Do you hear me?”

The sound of gunshots stop but the three of them realized that it wasn’t due to the guards doing what Van Statten had said. It was because the Dalek had killed them all. Goddard shoots Van Statten a glare before pulling up a map of the base onto the computer to show the Doctor.

“That's us, right below the surface. That's the cage, and that's the Dalek”, she explained indicating to the blue moving blip which was the Dalek.

“This museum of yours. Have you got any alien weapons?” the Doctor asked.

“Lots of them…but the trouble is the Dalek's between us and them”, Goddard explained.

“We've got to keep that thing alive”, Van Statten stated “We could just seal the entire vault, trap it down there”.

“Leaving everyone trapped with it?” the Doctor rounded “Rose is down there. And I’m NOT leaving her. Have you got that?” Van Statten got up, fully prepared to argue but the Doctor just turned back to the computer. He pointed at a spot on the map “It's got to go through this area. What's that?” he asked.

“Weapons testing”, Goddard replied.

“Give guns to the technicians, the lawyers, anyone. Everyone. Only then have you got a chance of killing it”, the Doctor ordered. He then went back over to Charlotte to check on her. She was still resting thankfully.

“I thought you were the great expert, Doctor”, Van Statten sneered at the Doctor while he checked on the exotic beauty “If you're so impressive, then why not just reason with this Dalek? It must be willing to negotiate. There must be something it needs. Everything needs something”.

“What's the nearest town?” the Doctor asked glancing at him.

“Salt Lake City”, Van Statten answered.

“Population?” the Doctor questioned.

“One million”, the American answered.

“All dead”, the Time Lord said bluntly “If the Dalek gets out, it'll murder every living creature. That's all it needs”.

Van Statten frowned “But why would it do that?”

“Because it honestly believes they should die”, the Doctor angrily “Human beings are different, and anything different is wrong. It's the ultimate in racial cleansing and you, Van Statten, you've let it loose!”

He shot the American a glare before going over to the computer to address everyone in the loading bay via the comm. According to the map of the base that was where the Dalek was heading to “The Dalek's surrounded by a force field. The bullets are melting before they even hit home, but it's not indestructible. If you concentrate your fire, you might get through. Aim for the dome, the head, the eyepiece. That's the weak spot”, he explained.

“Thank you, Doctor, but I think I know how to fight one single tin robot” the commander scoffed “Positions!”

The man gave the signal and the soldiers readied their guns. But what came into the loading was not the Dalek but Rose and Adam. “You two, get the hell out of there!” he shouted at the pair. Rose and Adam ran past them and out of a doorway at the other end of the loading bay as the Dalek appeared on the opposite side.

The Commander ordered his men to fire upon the Dalek but once again the bullets were simply melting before they struck their target.

Up in the office, the camera feed for the loading bay suddenly popped up on the computer screen. “We've got visual”, Goddard said with slight confusion on her face. Why did the camera feed pop up on the computer all of a sudden?

“It wants us to see”, the Doctor stated. They watch as the Dalek rose up into the air and blasted the fire alarm, causing the sprinklers to the set off. It then fires downward at the now water covered concrete floor, electrocuting everybody. 

“Fall back! Fall back!” the Commander shouted before he too was killed.  

~Office~

Heavy silence fell over the office as the last person was killed. The Doctor stared at the screen, his fists clenched. Van Statten should’ve let him kill it when he had the chance. But he didn’t and now even more people were dead.  “Perhaps it's time for a new strategy. Maybe we should consider abandoning this place”, Van Statten muttered, finally conceding to the fact that they _should_ leave.

“Except there's no power to the helipad, sir. We can't get out”, Goddard reminded him angrily.

“You said we could seal the vault”, the Doctor said.

“It was designed to be a bunker in the event of nuclear war” Van Statten said, heading to the computer “Steel bulkheads…”

“There's not enough power, those bulkheads are massive”, Goddard pointed out.

“We've got emergency power. We can re-route that to the bulkhead doors”, the Doctor said.

“We'd have to bypass the security codes” Goddard sighed “That would take a computer genius”.

“Good thing you've got me, then”, Van Statten replied.

The Doctor looked at him thoroughly surprised “ _You_ want to help?” he scoffed. All this time he’d been so adamant about keeping the damn Dalek alive, _now_ he wants to help trap it?

“I don't want to die, Doctor. Simple as that. And nobody knows this software better than me”

A screen on the wall suddenly flashed on, the Dalek standing in the middle of the loading bay. The Doctor straightened up, shifting until he’d blocked the Dalek’s view of Charlotte. He didn’t want it to know that she was in a vulnerable state.

“I shall speak only to the Doctor”, the metal alien stated.

“You're going to get rusty”, the Doctor commented.

“I fed off the DNA of Rose Tyler. Extrapolating the biomass of a time traveller regenerated me”, the Dalek explained.

“What's your next trick?” the Doctor asked.

“I have been searching for the Daleks”

“Yeah, I saw” the Doctor rolled his eyes “downloading the internet. What did you find?”

“I scanned your satellites and radio telescopes…”

“And?” the Doctor asked waiting for its point.

“Nothing”, it stated “Where shall I get my orders now?” it asked, its voice rising sounding almost scared.

“You're just a soldier without commands”, the Doctor taunted.

“Then I shall follow the Primary Order, the Dalek instinct to destroy, to conquer!” the Dalek declared.

“What for?” the Doctor asked, exasperated “What's the point?” silence from the Dalek “Don't you see it's all gone? Everything you were, everything you stood for”.

“Then what should I do?”

“All right, then” he nodded slowly “If you want orders, follow this one. Kill yourself”.

“The Daleks must survive!”

“The Daleks have _failed_! Why don't you finish the job and make the Daleks extinct. Rid the Universe of your filth. Why don't you just die?” the Doctor shouted with a passionate hatred.

“You would make a good Dalek”, the Dalek stated before the screen went blank. The Doctor stared at the screen, dumbstruck by its declaration.

“Seal the Vault”, he ordered.


	7. Museum Menace part 4

As soon as he’d said the order, he procured an earpiece from Goddard and used his sonic on it to connect to Rose’s phone. “ _This isn't the best time_ ”, she said when she picked up.

“Where are you?” the Doctor asked.

“ _Level 49_ ”, Rose replied.

“You've got to keep moving. The vault's being sealed off up at level forty six”, he said.

“ _Can't you stop them closing?_ ” Rose asked.

“I'm the one who's closing them. I can't wait and I can't help you. Now for God's sake, run!” the Doctor said. He heard her tell Adam information and then everything went muffled like she’d put the phone in her pocket. He vaguely heard them sprinting and then a klaxon sounded, completely covering the sound of their footsteps. A beat later there was a heavy thud of a bulkhead door connecting with the concrete ground. “Rose did you make it?” he asked urgently. There was no answer “Rose? did you make it?” he repeated.

“ _Sorry, I was a bit slow_ ”, the blonde admitted. A horrible shock appeared on the Time Lord’s face, her words like ice water in his veins. “ _See you then Doctor_ ”, she continued, her voice taking on a slightly tremor “ _It wasn’t your fault. Remember that, okay? It wasn’t your fault_ ” he heard her take a shaky breath “ _I wouldn’t have missed it for the world_ ”.

 _“Exterminate!”_ the Dalek cried through the earpiece. The Doctor heard its weapon being fired before he tore the earpiece out of his ear. “I killed her”, he said quietly. She was his companion. He’d promised her that he would keep her safe. And he broke that promise. What would Jackie think of him now? She would probably wish that it was him in Rose’s place. He wished it was him. Nobody deserved to be killed by a Dalek, least of all someone who’s life has barely begun.

“I'm sorry”, Van Statten said, his voice full of regret.

“I said I'd protect her. She was only here because of me, and you're _sorry_? I could've killed that Dalek in it's cell, but you stopped me”, he said glaring at the man.

“It was the prize of my collection!” Van Statten cried “a distinction the exotic beauty will earn if we ever get out of here”. The Doctor’s face darkened at how he’d just labelled Charlotte like she was property or a prize to be won.

“Charlotte is not and will never be a prize of yours”, the Time Lord all but growled “If you want her, you’ll have to go through me and trust me when I say, you wont succeed”. Van Statten swallowed and nodded. “So let me ask you a question Van Statten”, the Time Lord continued “Is this really all worth it? Worth the lives of those men? Worth Rose?” the Doctor questioned “because its NOT. Mankind goes into space to explore, to be part of something greater”.

“Exactly! I wanted to touch the stars!” Van Statten exclaimed.

“You just want to drag the stars down and stick them underground, underneath tons of sand and dirt, and label them”, the Doctor spat “You're about as far from the stars as you can get. And you took her down with you!”

The Time Lord turned away, his expression changing from furious to grief-stricken “She was nineteen years old”, he added quietly.

~Level 46~

Rose opened her eyes cautiously and looked around. She was surprised that she was still alive. “Go on then, kill me”, she said to the Dalek. The teen was met with silence from the alien “Why're you doing this?” she demanded.

“I am armed. I will kill. It is my purpose”, the Dalek said.

“They’re all dead because of you!” Rose cried, her body trembling.

“They’re all dead because of us”, the Dalek corrected her.

“And now what?” Rose demanded “what are you waiting for?”

“I feel your fear”, the Dalek said.

“Well what did you expect?!” the blonde asked almost hysterically.

“You gave me life. What else have you given me?” the Dalek asked growing hysterical as well, almost bordering on scared “I am contaminated!” It fired wildly, hitting the wall either side of her causing the girl to flinch at the closeness of each shot.

\----------------

When Adam stepped out of the lift into Van Statten’s office, the Doctor rounds on him. “You were quick on your feet, leaving Rose behind”, he said angrily.

“I’m not the one who sealed the vault!” Adam said indignantly.

The computer screen springs to life showing Rose standing next to the Dalek. “Open the bulkhead or Rose Tyler dies”, the Dalek ordered.

“You're alive!” the Doctor exclaimed joy and relief breaking out on his face. She was alive! His companion was alive!

“Can't get rid of me”, Rose said trying to sound cheery.

“I thought you were dead”, the Doctor said.

“Open the bulkhead!” the Dalek ordered again.

“Don't do it!” Rose shouted at him.

“What use are emotions if you will not save the woman you love?” The Doctor stared at the screen stunned. That wasn’t a question a Dalek would normally ask. They didn’t understand the concept of love. They were the embodiment of hatred. That’s all they ever knew. The Doctor turned to Van Statten who looked at him shocked.

The Doctor went back to the screen “I killed her once. I can't do it again”, he said. He hit a key and the bulkhead door started to open. The Dalek and Rose go through when the bulkhead was high enough.

“What do we do now, you bleeding heart. What the hell do we do?” Van Statten demanded.

“Kill it when it gets here!” Adam piped up. He knew that he didn’t want to die. So the Dalek had to be destroyed.

“All the guns are useless, and the alien weapons are in the vault”, Goddard reminded him.

“Only the catalogued ones”, Adam told her. Van Statten turned to him, brows raised. Adam just gives him an apologetic look. The Doctor went over to Charlotte and gave her a gentle shake. He didn’t really want to wake her, not when she needed the rest after what she’d been through. But he didn’t particularly want to leave her with Van Statten either while he went to the workshop.

“It over?” Charlotte mumbled, looking up at the Doctor blearily.

“Almost”, the Doctor answered “I know I said for you to rest but I need you to come with me to Adam’s workshop. Can you do that?”

“Yeah. I-I think I can”, Charlotte replied and the Time Lord carefully helped her to her feet.

~Adam's workshop~

Charlotte sat in Adam’s chair, rubbing her temples while the Doctor rifled through a basket of the ‘pretty boy’s’ un-catalogued weapons. The Doctor picked up a ‘weapon’ “Broken”, he stated chucking it aside. Charlotte and Adam watched as he picked up another and that was tossed aside too “Hairdryer”, the Doctor stated.

“Mr Van Statten tends to dispose of his staff, and when he does he wipes their memory”, Adam explained “I kept this stuff in case I needed to fight my way out one day”.

“What, you in a fight?” the Doctor scoffed “I'd like to see that”.

“I could do”, Adam said mildly offended.

The Doctor rolled his eyes. He could hardly see the boy in a fight. Probably couldn’t fight his way out of a wet paper bag. Now Ziva or Charlotte as she currently preferred to be called, could fight. And very well, he might add considering she helped him beat the Skovox Blitzer. “What're you going to do, throw your A-Levels at 'em?” he asked Adam sarcastically. He then picked up a rather large gun “Oh, yes. Lock and load”.

\-------------

Rose stood in the lift next to the Dalek. The atmosphere was rather tense in the enclosed space. It took everything she had not to fidget on the spot. “When we get up there, you can’t kill them”

The Dalek swung its eye stalk around so fast that the blonde had to quickly move as to not get hit. “But why not?” it asked “My function is to kill”.

“You shot at me but didn’t kill me. So you can’t kill them”, Rose said.

“What I am Rose? What am I?” the Dalek demanded.

“I don’t know”, Rose honestly replied.

When the lift doors opened, Van Statten was standing in the office. Alone. “Don't do anything. It's beginning to question itself”, Rose informed him as the Dalek moved towards the man.

“Van Statten. You tortured me. Why?” the Dalek demanded.

Van Statten backed away, clearly terrified of the Dalek “I wanted to help you. I just…I don't know. I was trying to help. I thought if we could get through to you, if we could mend you…I wanted you better, I'm sorry” his back hit a wall “I'm so sorry! I swear, I just wanted you to talk!”

“Then hear me talk now. Exterminate! Exterminate!” the Dalek cried. Van Statten winces “Exterminate!”

Rose rushed over “Don’t do it! Don’t kill him!” she exclaimed. The Dalek spins to face her “You don't have to do this anymore. There must be something else. Not just killing…what else is there? What do you want?”

The Dalek looks at Van Statten then back to Rose. “I want freedom”, the Dalek replied.

The metal alien and Rose got back into the lift and headed Floor One of the museum. While they’re heading upwards in the lift, the Doctor was charging up the stairs clutching the alien gun in his hands desperate to get to Rose before the Dalek decided it didn’t need her anymore. Charlotte chased after him, trying to keep up as best as she could.

~Floor One~

The Dalek stopped in the middle of floor 1 and blasted a hole in the ceiling, allowing light to filter in. “You're out. You made it”, Rose said. She looked up at the hole and smiled “I never thought I'd feel the sunlight again”.

“How… does… it… feel?” the Dalek asked. Rose was going to reply when the casing of the Dalek opened to reveal a one eyed mutant. The blonde watched it hold out one of its feelers toward the sunlight. She gazed at it until a voice behind them made her jump.

“Get out of the way”

Rose turned and saw the Doctor standing there holding a large gun. Charlotte was standing slightly behind him looking rather pale. “Rose! Get out of the way now!” the Doctor shouted.

“No”, Rose said not moving “I won't let you do this”.

“That thing killed hundreds of people!”

“It's not the one pointing the gun at me”, Rose retorted.

“I've got to do this. I've got to end it. The Daleks destroyed my home, my people. I've got nothing left!” the Doctor said.

Rose moved to the side “Look at it”, she said.

“What's it doing?” the Doctor asked confused.

“It's the sunlight, that's all it wants”, Rose said.

“But it can't”, the Doctor said his voice shaking.

“It couldn't kill Van Statten, it couldn't kill me. It's changing. What about you, Doctor? What the hell are you changing into?” Rose demanded.

The Doctor lowered the gun looking completely lost. “I couldn’t…” Rose stared at him while Charlotte moved forward to put a hand on his arm when he started to tear up “I wasn’t…” he looked at the Dalek then back at the Charlotte and Rose “oh Rose, Charlotte, they’re all dead”. Charlotte lightly squeezed his arm in hopes to provide him with some comfort.

“Why do we survive?” the Dalek asked.

“I don't know”, the Doctor replied.

“I am the last of the Daleks”, the Dalek said, speech becoming more of an effort now.

“You're not even that. Rose did more than regenerate you. You've absorbed her DNA. You're mutating”

“Into what?” the Dalek managed to say.

“Something new. I'm sorry”, the Doctor said apologetically.

“Isn't that better?” Rose asked.

“Not for a Dalek”, the Doctor said. 

“I can feel so many ideas. So much darkness...Rose, give me orders...Order me to die”

“I can't do that”, Rose said shaking her head.

“This is not life. This is sickness. I shall not be like you. Order my destruction! Obey! Obey! Obey!”

After a moment Rose spoke “Do it”

“Are you frightened, Rose Tyler?” the Dalek asked.

“Yeah”, Rose replied. 

“So am I” the Dalek said feebly “Exterminate”. 

Rose stumbled back and goes to the Doctor’s side as the Dalek replaces its armour. It levitates in the air and the golden spheres on its casing detaches. They create a prefect sphere around the Dalek. The alien glows briefly and then explodes inside the sphere, vanishing into nothing.

Suddenly Charlotte sagged against the Doctor, her legs unable to hold her up any more. “I’m sorry”, she murmured as the Time Lord gathered her up in his arms “so tired”.

“It’s ok”, the Doctor said “you can rest. I got you”.

~Exhibit Room~

Rose trailed behind the Doctor as the Time Lord walked back to the TARDIS, Charlotte in his arms. "A little piece of home. Better than nothing", the Doctor said remarked when they reached the blue box.

"Is that the end of it? The Time War?" Rose asked.

"I'm the only one left. I win. How about that", he said a little happier than he was before.

"The Dalek survived....maybe some of your people did too", Rose suggested.

"I'd know. I’d feel it in my mind”, the Doctor told her "Feels like there's no one".

"Well good thing I'm not going anywhere", Rose assured him.

“Me neither”, Charlotte said quietly making the Doctor look down at her.

“Thought you were tired”, he remarked.

“I am”, Charlotte said, her eyes closing once again.

Adam then jogged up to them. “We'd better get out. Van Statten's disappeared….they’re going to close this place down” the Doctor turned to him “Goddard says they're going to fill it full of cement, like it never existed”.

“About time”, Rose remarked.

“I'll have to go back home”, Adam said.

“Better hurry up then. Next flight to Heathrow leaves at 15000 hours”, the Doctor told him. 

“Adam was saying that all his life he wanted to see the stars…” Rose hinted. 

“Tell him to go outside, then”, the Doctor said with slight sarcasm. He didn’t really have time for this, he had Charlotte to take care of. That, to him was far more important than chatting.

“He’s all on his own Doctor. And he did help”, Rose said.

“He left you down there!” the Doctor argued.

“So did you!” Rose retorted.

“What're you talking about? We've got to leave”, Adam said confused as to why they weren’t going.

“He's a bit pretty”, the Doctor told Rose.

“I hadn't noticed”, Rose said innocently.

“On your own head”, the Doctor said. He turned to the TARDIS, whose doors swung open automatically allowing him entrance with Charlotte. He stepped inside, making a beeline for the med bay.

“What're you doing? She said cement. She wasn't joking. We're going to get sealed in”, Adam said. Rose entered the TARDIS too, ignoring him. “What're you guys doing standing inside a box?” he questioned but nobody answered him “Rose?”

Adam peered through the doors and steps inside.


	8. Mystery of Satellite Five part 1

Charlotte stood by the kettle waiting for it to boil. As she did so, she could feel the Doctor’s eyes on her. He’d been watching her pretty closely ever since she’d somewhat recovered from her ordeal at the museum. Not that she didn’t blame him but she felt it was unnecessary. “You don’t have to keep watching me, I feel fine”, Charlotte said as the kettle clicked off.

The Doctor moved over from where he was standing to next to her “I know, I shouldn’t”, he admitted “I’m just still worried about you”.

“And that’s very sweet of you but aside from a bit of a lingering headache, I really do feel fine”, Charlotte assured him.

“Have you taken anything for it?” the Doctor asked, ready to whisk her to the med bay if she hadn’t.

“I took a couple of tablets for it about half and hour ago”, Charlotte replied “so can’t take anything else for another few hours”.

“Ok. Good”, the Doctor said “want some help?”

“Sure”, Charlotte answered. She went over to the fridge to get out the milk while the Time Lord poured out hot water into two mugs and adding a tea bag to each. She held out the carton of milk which the Doctor took and added a dash to each of the mugs.

They took their mugs and sat down on at the kitchen table. “How’s Adam settling in?” Charlotte asked taking a sip of her drink.

“I think he’s settling in fine”, the Doctor replied “I don’t know. Rose has been helping him adjust”.

“Uh huh”, Charlotte said “so um…I’m kinda eager to carry on travelling. Think we’ve all been cooped up in here long enough”.

“We’ll keep going with the trips but one condition”, the Doctor said “the second you feel dizzy or sick or unwell, you tell me”.

 “I will”, Charlotte promised.

\-----------

An hour later saw the Doctor, Charlotte and Rose stepping out of the TARDIS into a large room. “It’s a bit hot”, Charlotte remarked shrugging her jacket off “not me”, she added when the Doctor checked her temperature by placing the back of his hand on her forehead “the room”.

“She’s right, it’s a bit warm out here”, Rose agreed unzipping her own jacket “so where are we this time?”

“It’s a space station…year 200,000”, the Doctor replied.

“200,000?” Rose repeated.

“Yep”, the Doctor confirmed.

“Right”, the blonde nodded and opened the TARDIS’ door “Adam? Out you come”, she called and the British boy complied.

“Oh, my God”, Adam breathed, gaping at his new surroundings.

“Don't worry, you'll get used to it”, Rose assured him.

“Where are we?” Adam asked.  

“Good question. Let's see. So, um…judging by the architecture, I'd say we're around the year 200,000. If you listen…” she paused for dramatic effect “engines. We're on some sort of space station. Yeah, definitely a space station. Tell you what…let's try that gate. Come on!”

The blonde opened the gate, the Doctor, Adam and Charlotte follow her into the room beyond.  “Here we go! And this is….”she trailed off, rather awestruck by the sight of her home planet through the large window “…I'll let the Doctor describe it”.

“The Fourth great and bountiful Human Empire. And there it is, planet Earth at it's height. Covered with mega-cities, five moons, population ninety six billion. The hub of a galactic domain stretching across a million planets, a million species, with mankind right in the middle”, the Doctor explained.

“It’s beautiful”, Charlotte murmured taking in the blue and green marble that she calls home. Behind the trio, Adam faints with a girlish sigh. Charlotte glanced down at him while the Doctor and Rose didn’t even bother to turn around.

“He's your boyfriend”, the Doctor stated.

“Not anymore”, Rose muttered. Charlotte knelt down beside Adam and patted him on the face.

“Wakey, wakey Adam”, she said, shaking his shoulder when her face taps didn’t make him stir.

“Wha? What happened?” Adam asked blearily, blinking up at Charlotte.

“You fainted”, she helped him sit up “seeing the world from space can be a little overwhelming, huh?”

“You can say that again”, Adam agreed. Charlotte tugged him to his feet.

“Why don’t we go back to the TARDIS?” she suggested.

“No, I’ll be ok”, Adam assured “I want to explore”.

“Good!” the Doctor said suddenly turning around, slinging an arm around his shoulders “Come on, Adam. Open your mind. You're going to like this” he left the observation deck, Rose and Charlotte following “This is a fantastic period of history”, the Doctor declared as they entered Floor 139 “The human race at its most intelligent. Culture, art, politics. This era has got fine food, good manners-“

He was abruptly broken off when a man shouted, rather rudely “Out of the way!” shoving past Charlotte in the process.

“Watch where you’re going!” she shouted after him before the entire floor sprung to life, vendors appearing with their carts and stations, customers milling about.

“Fine cuisine?” Rose said raising a brow at the food at was behind one of the cases. It was reminiscent of the fast food that they have at home.

“My watch must be wrong”, the Doctor checked his watch and frowned “No, it's fine. It's weird”.

“That's what comes of showing off. Your history's not as good as you thought it was”, Rose teased.

“My history's perfect”, the Doctor insisted.

“I hate to say it but maybe you got it a little wrong this time”, Charlotte said “and that’s ok. We all make mistakes”.

Before he could argue, Adam spoke up “They're all human”, he stated, eyeing everyone “What about the millions of planets, the millions of species? Where are they?”

“Good question”, the Doctor agreed “Adam, me old mate, you must be starving”. He turned to the nearest chef “Oi, mate - how much is a kronkburger?” he asked.

“Two credits twenty, sweetheart”, the chef answered “Now join the queue”.

“Money”, the Doctor muttered “We need money. Let's use a cashpoint”. He went over to one that was mounted on a wall, flashing his sonic over it to make the machine release a metal strip. He handed to Adam. “There you go, pocket money. Don't spend it all on sweets”, the Doctor said.

“How does it work?” Adam asked.

“Go and find out! Stop nagging me! The thing is, Adam, time travel's like visiting Paris. You can't just read the guide book, you've got to throw yourself in. Eat the food, use the wrong verbs, get charged double and end up kissing complete strangers…” Charlotte raised her eyebrows while Rose laughed. Adam on the other hand just stared at him, frowning. “Or is that just me? Stop asking questions, go and do it!” the Time Lord shooed him away “Off you go, then. Your first date”, he said to Rose with a grin.

“You're going to get a smack, you are”, the blonde, pointing at him warningly before heading off to join Adam.

“What are we gonna do?” Charlotte asked.

“We are going to find out exactly where we are”, the Doctor replied. They walked over to a pair of women who were chatting away. “This is going to sound daft, but can you tell me where I am?” The Doctor asked them.

“Floor 139”, the black woman, Cathica, answered “Could they write it any bigger?”

Charlotte glanced up at the large numbers she indicated to “We’re on floor 139 of what?” she questioned.

“You're on Satellite Five”, the slightly shorter, Caucasian woman, Suki told her.

“What's Satellite Five?” the Doctor queried.

Cathica scoffed “Come on, how could you get on board without knowing where you are?”

“Quite easily”, Charlotte replied “plus its more fun that way, right Doctor?”

The Doctor nodded “Right”, he said agreed.

“Hold on, wait a minute. Are you two a test?” Suki asked “Some sort of management test kind of thing?”

“You've got us”, the Doctor confessed “Well done”. The Time Lord showed his psychic paper to the two women. Suki and Cathica exchanged glances.

“We were warned about this in basic training. All workers have to be versed in company promotion”, Suki informed Charlotte and the Doctor.

Cathica straightened her blazer “Right, fire away, ask your questions. If it gets me to Floor five hundred I'll do anything”, she said. This time the Doctor and Charlotte exchanged looks.

“Why, what happens on Floor five hundred?” the Time Lord asked.

“The walls are made of gold”, Cathica stated as if it were obvious “And you should know…Mr and Miss…Management. So, this is what we do” the woman led Charlotte and the Doctor over to a set of screens "Latest news...sandstorms on the new Venus archipelago. 200 dead. Glasgow water riots into their third day...space lane 37 closed by sunspot activity. And over on the Bad Wolf channel, the Face of Boe has just announced he's pregnant".

“So…you guys broadcast the news”, Charlotte surmised from what she was saying.

“We ARE the news”, Cathica corrected “We're the journalists. We write it, package it and sell it. 600 channels. All coming out of Satellite Five, broadcasting everywhere. Nothing happens in the whole human empire without it going though us”.

“Surely you can’t see everything”, Charlotte said “every now and again something must slip through the cracks”.

Cathica shook her head “It’s impossible for that to happen. The system we have doesn’t allow for anything to go unnoticed”, she said adamantly.

“No system is perfect. Theres always a way around it. Always”, Charlotte insisted.

“You speak like you have experience Miss Jones”, Suki remarked, having seen the name, Charlotte Jones on the Doctor’s psychic paper. But the curly haired brunette didn’t answer her, instead she was looking at her or rather past her to a random spot over her shoulder. “Miss Jones?” Suki repeated, looking at her with concern.

The Doctor placed a hand on Charlotte’s shoulder, startling her “huh, what?” she said confused.

“Miss uh… what’s your name?” the Doctor asked.

“Cantrell. Suki Macrae Cantrell”, Suki supplied.

“Suki was just saying it sounded like you have experience about getting around the ‘system’”, the Time Lord said.

“Oh, yeah…I uh…do have some”, Charlotte said.

“Then I’d like to invite you both to a broadcasting in a few minutes to prove that we can in fact see _everything_ ”, Cathica said.

“We’d like that”, the Doctor said.

“Alright, we will see you in the newsroom. It’s clearly marked, you can’t miss it”, Cathica said and with that she and Suki left. As soon as they were gone, the Doctor turned to Charlotte.

“Are you alright?” he asked “you kinda spaced out there”.

“Yeah I’m fine”, Charlotte replied “I just…” she trailed off, reaching up and rubbing her temples, making a face as she did so.

“Your head?” the Doctor questioned and Charlotte nodded “Do you want to go back to the TARDIS?”

“No, I’ll be fine”, Charlotte assured him.

“You sure?” the Doctor asked.

“Yeah, I’m sure”, Charlotte replied.

“Alright. But if it gets any worse I’m taking you straight back to the blue box”, the Doctor said firmly.

“Ok”, Charlotte agreed.  


	9. Mystery of Satellite Five part 2

 

The Doctor, Charlotte, Adam and Rose wandered into the Newsroom, a fair sized room where a chair was placed in the middle. They stood behind some railings, watching a few people enter and sit down by the pads that surrounded the platform that the chair was on. "Now, everybody behave. We have a management inspection", Cathica said, addressing the other people in the room. She turned to the Doctor, Rose, Charlotte and Adam who were standing off to the side "How do you want it, by the book?" she asked.

“Right from scratch, thanks”, the Doctor replied.

"Okay. So, ladies, gentlemen, multi-sex, undecided or robot, my name is Cathica Santini Khadeni. That's Cathica with a 'C', in case you want to write to Floor 500 praising me, and please do" The Doctor grins, giving a non-committal jerk of his head "Now, please feel free to ask any questions. The process of news gathering must be open, honest, and beyond bias. That's company policy"

"Actually...it's the law", Suki spoke up, correcting her.

"Yes, thank you, Suki", Cathica said irritated by her interruption "Okay, keep it calm...don't show off for the guests...here we go" she lays down on the chair "And engage safety"

The 6 people and Suki held their hands over the pads. Cathica clicks her fingers and a door in her forehead opens up to reveal part of her brain. Charlotte blanched and looked away, doing her best not to throw up. The Doctor looked at it mildly disgusted while Rose was fairly alarmed. Adam was the only one out of them that was interested. Suki and the others place their hands on the pads and close their eyes.

"And 3...2...and spike" from the contraption over the chair, a blue light shoots down and into her brain.

"Compressed information, streaming into her. Reports from every city, every country, every planet, and they all get packaged inside her head. She becomes part of the software. Her brain is the computer", the Doctor explained as they all, except Charlotte watched.

"If it all goes through her, she must be a genius", Rose commented.

The Doctor shook his head "Nah, she wouldn't remember any of it. There's too much. Her head would blow up", the Time Lord said. He begins to walk around the room, Rose following him "The brain's the processor. As soon as it closes, she forgets".

“So, what about all these people round the edge?” Rose asked.

"They've all got tiny little chips in their head, connecting them to her and they transmit six hundred channels. Every single fact in the Empire beams out of this place" the Doctor and Rose go back around to where Adam was standing, Charlotte still looking away "Now that's what I call power".  

“I need some air”, Charlotte mumbled and quickly darted out of the room. The Doctor followed after her.

“You alright?” he asked. The curly haired brunette was looking rather pale in his opinion.

Charlotte shook her head “No, I’m not. Feel a little sick”, she replied, honestly.

“Would you like to go back to the TARDIS?” the Doctor asked.

The woman shook her head again “I’m sure it’ll pass”, she answered “but I am gonna stay out here though”.

“I can stay with you, if you like”, the Doctor offered.

“That wont be necessary. I’ll be fine”, Charlotte assured him.

“As long as you’re sure”, the Doctor said. He was a little reluctant to leave her given that she wasn’t feeling too good. Plus he wasn’t entirely sure that she had fully recovered from the torture that Van Statten had inflicted upon her despite her assurances that she was fine.

Charlotte was about to say something when Rose and Adam rushed out “you guys should probably come see this”, the blonde said “come on!”

“I’m gonna wait here”, Charlotte told the Doctor. He nodded and followed the other two humans back into the room.

“Look”, Rose said pointing to a large screen which was showing that Suki had a promotion “apparently she had a ‘glitch’ and now she’s got promoted”, the teen quietly explained. 

“Did she now? Interesting”, the Doctor murmured.

\---------------------

"Cathica, I'm going to miss you!" Suki said as they stood by the lift "Floor 500..." she turned to the Doctor “thank you!”

“I didn't do anything”, the Doctor insisted.

“Well, you're my lucky charm”, Suki told him “you and your friend”. She nodded to Charlotte, who was hanging back, still looking rather pale. The curly haired brunette managed to crack a small smile at her though.

"All right! I'll hug anyone!" Suki giggled as the Doctor hugged her “right…I gotta go”, she said moving back and picking up her bag “I can't keep them waiting” she stepped into the lift “Say goodbye to Steve for me. Bye!”

"Good riddance", Cathica muttered.

"You're talking like you'll never see her again. She's only going upstairs", the Doctor said.

"We won't. Once you go to Floor 500 you never come back", Cathica told him. She walked away, the Doctor, Rose and Charlotte following. Adam apparently had gone off somewhere.

“Have you ever been up there?” the Doctor asked, putting his arm around Charlotte when she stumbled. She really wasn’t looking too good. He might have to take her back to the TARDIS even if she didn’t want to go.

“I can't”, Cathica replied “You need a key for the lift, and you only get a key with promotion. No one gets to five hundred except for the chosen few”.

~Newsroom~

“Look, they only give us twenty minutes maintenance. Can't you give it a rest?” Cathica asked when the trio followed her into the newsroom.

“But you've never been to another floor? Not even one floor down?” the Doctor pressed.

“I went to floor sixteen when I first arrived. That's medical. That's when I got my head done, and then I came straight here. Satellite Five, you work, eat and sleep on the same floor. That's it, that's all”, Cathica explained “You're not management…are you”, she stated eyeing both Charlotte and the Doctor, the pair now sitting on the floor.

“At last. She's clever”, the Time Lord remarked.

"Yeah, well, whatever it is, don't involve me. I don't know anything", Cathica said.

"Don't you even ask?" the Doctor asked.

"Well, why would I?" Cathica retorted.

“You’re a journalist, aren’t you?” Charlotte questioned quietly “surely you must be a little curious”.

“Well, I’m not”, Cathica told her, though the curly haired woman could see that her eyes were saying something different. Cathica _was_ curious, she just didn’t want to admit it.  

“So…how come there’s no aliens on board?” Rose piped up.

Cathica shrugged “I don't know. No real reason. They're not banned or anything”, she said.

The Doctor looked around the room theatrically "Then where are they?"

"I suppose immigration's tightened up. It's had to, what with all the threats", Cathica answered.

“What threats?” the Doctor asked.

"I don't know...all of them. Usual stuff. And the price of space warp doubled so that kept the visitors away..." the Doctor and Rose watch her intently. Charlotte on the other hand had dropped her head onto the Doctor’s shoulder "Oh, and the government on Chavic Five's collapsed, so that lot stopped coming, you see...just lots...of little reasons, that's all".  

“Adding up to one great big fact, and you didn't even notice”, the Doctor stated.

"Doctor, I think if there was any kind of conspiracy, Satellite Five would have seen it. We see everything", Cathica said.

“Clearly you don’t”, Charlotte mumbled.

“I _can_ see better. This society's the wrong shape, even the technology”, the Doctor said.

“It's cutting edge”, Cathica argued.

"It's backwards!” the Doctor retorted “There's a great big door in your head. You should've chucked this out years ago".

"So, what do you think's going on?" Rose asked.

“It's not just this space station, it's the whole attitude. It's the way people think. The great and bountiful Human Empire's stunted. Something's holding it back”, the Doctor said.

"And how would _you_ know?" Cathica demanded.

“Trust me, humanity's been set back about ninety years”, the Doctor said “When did Satellite Five start broadcasting?”  

"91 years ago..." Cathica trailed off realising that the Doctor might actually have a point.

“Can I go back to the TARDIS now, please?” Charlotte quietly requested to the Time Lord. He glanced at her and nodded. The Doctor helped her up, putting his arm around the woman to make sure she stayed upright.

“We’ll be back in a moment”, he told Cathica and with that he walked out of the room “this isn’t over”.

~TARDIS~

The Doctor took Charlotte to one of the many rooms that his ship provided and helped her into bed. “It shouldn’t take too long to figure out whats been going on with Satellite Five”, the Doctor “just rest and we’ll be back before you know it”.

“Ok”, Charlotte said “be careful”.

“Me? I’m always careful”, the Doctor grinned.

“Why get the feeling that’s not the case?” Charlotte asked.

“And your feeling would be right”, Rose said poking her head through the door “he’s a complete trouble magnet”.

“Oi!” the Doctor protested “I’m not that bad”.

‘Yes he is’ Rose mouthed at Charlotte, who managed a chuckle, despite how rotten she was feeling. The blonde teen just gave the Doctor an ‘innocent’ expression when he shot her a look. “We’ll be back soon”, Rose said to the woman who nodded. She and the Doctor then left the room. Charlotte shifted in bed, getting comfortable and closed her eyes.


	10. Mystery of Satellite Five part 3

The curly haired woman whimpered, fisting the covers, eyes darting about behind her eyelids. Suddenly she let out a scream, sitting bolt upright. The lights in the room brightened slightly and there was a soothing hum that resonated in the air. “I’m in the TARDIS”, Charlotte breathed, utterly relieved by this. For a second she thought she was back where the nightmare was occurring, Van Statten’s Museum.

She brushed her hair back and slipped out of bed. Charlotte walked over to a door and opened it to find a bathroom on the other side. She stepped in the room, going to the sink where she splashed cold water on her face. Charlotte dried her face and then looked at herself in the mirror above the sink. She still looked a little pale but at least there was some colour back in her cheeks. Despite having the nightmare, Charlotte felt much better than she did before. And due to this she decided to go see if she can find the Doctor, Rose and Adam.

She found her way back to the console room rather easily, thanks to the TARDIS shifting things about. Charlotte walked down the ramp and pulled open the door, feeling the blast of heat from the room outside immediately. Was it her, or did it feel a lot hotter than before?

She exited the police box, gently closing the door behind her. _Now…how do I find one Time Lord and two humans?_ She thought as she wandered into the main area of floor 139. She supposed that she could just ask someone she they knew where the trio was. Charlotte went over to the nearest person, a young woman in her 20’s “Excuse me, miss I was wondering if you can help me. I’m looking for my friends. Um…one’s young and blonde with a high ponytail and red hoodie; one has short hair and leather jacket; the third one is a British lad who might look like he’s a bit overwhelmed”.

“I haven’t seen the third one you’re describing. But the other two I saw talking to Cathica”, she replied “they were by the computer cupboard” the young woman pointed in that particular direction.

“Thanks”, Charlotte said and hurried off in the direction she’d been pointing.

An almost sad smile appeared on the young woman’s face “run you brave girl and remember”, she murmured. Charlotte didn’t even reach the computer cupboard the young woman spoke of as she spotted the Doctor, Rose and Cathica going over to a lift. She briskly walked toward them.

“Doctor! Rose!” she called, thankfully catching their attention.

“Charlotte? I thought you were resting”, the Doctor said.

“I was”, Charlotte said “but I felt better so I decided to see if I could find you guys. So…where are you headed?”

“Floor 500”, Rose replied “the Doctor’s been given the code to get up there”.

“How did you manage that?” Charlotte questioned.

“By making a mess of things”, Cathica answered, sharply. She was still rather put out that these strangers somehow got access to floor 500 and she hadn’t “when you get into trouble and you will….don’t mention my name”, she told the Doctor and Rose sternly before she left.

“That's her gone”, the Doctor remarked lightly, not at all upset Cathica decided not to tag along “Adam's given up. Looks like it's just you, me and Charlotte” he said “If you’re up for it”, he added to the curly haired woman.

“I’m up for it”, Charlotte confirmed.

“Good”, the Doctor said, happy to hear it. Though he wouldn’t have been disappointed if she said no. After all, she did still look a little under the weather. The trio entered the lift where the Doctor slots a card into the controls and the lift doors close.   

~Floor 500~

As soon as the lift doors open at Floor 500, the trio all felt the cold. Charlotte shivered, really regretting not having her jacket with her. She was surprised when the Doctor shrugged off his leather jacket and put it around her shoulders. “Won’t you get cold?” Charlotte asked.

“I don’t feel it as much as humans do”, the Doctor replied and stepped out of the lift.

“You know…Cathica said the walls were made out of gold”, Charlotte said slowly, taking in their frozen surroundings “those walls are most definitely _not_ gold”.

“You two should go back downstairs”, the Doctor said seriously.

“Tough”, Rose said and strode further into Floor 500.

“I’m not going back downstairs”, Charlotte said when the Doctor glanced at her. She followed after Rose, the Doctor trailing after her. The trio  entered a smaller room at the very end where a man with very white hair was standing, eyes fixed on a bunch of screens. “I started without you” he said turning around to face them “This is fascinating. Satellite 5 contains every piece of information within the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire. Birth certificates, shopping habits, bank statements, but you three, you don't exist!” he laughed “Not a trace. No birth, no job, not the slightest kiss. How can you walk through the world and not leave a single footprint?”

Rose spots Suki sitting at one of the screens and rushes over to her immediately “Suki. Suki!” she kneels next to the woman who doesn’t respond “Hello? Can you hear me? Suki?” Suki still didn’t respond “What have you done to her?” Rose asked the man.

“I think she's dead”, the Doctor said.

“But if she’s dead, how come she’s working?” Charlotte questioned.

“They've all got chips in their head, and the chips keep going, like puppets”, the Doctor said realising that it was the reason Suki and the others were still working.

“Oh! You're full of information. But it's only fair we get some information back, because apparently, you're no one. It's so rare not to know something. Who are you?” the Editor laughs and the Doctor nods.

“It doesn't matter, because we're off. Nice to meet you. Come on” the Doctor took Charlotte’s hand and started to leave when they were both grabbed by three of the ‘dead’ people. Rose was also restrained by Suki grabbing her arm.

“Tell me who you are!” the mand demanded.

“You first!” Charlotte shot back wiggling in her captor’s grip. This was getting to be too much like Van Statten’s museum.

“I’m the Editor”, the man replied “and who might you be, my dear?”

“None of your business!” the Time Lord snapped.

“Well, perhaps my Editor in Chief can convince you otherwise”, the Editor said smiling.

“And who's that?” the Doctor asked.

“It may interest you to know that this is not the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire. In fact, it's not actually human at all. It's merely a place where humans happen to live” the creature above his head growled “Yeah. Yeah, sorry. It's a place where humans are _allowed_ to live by kind permission of my client” he snaps his fingers and points upwards.

Rose, the Doctor and Charlotte looked up so see a slobbering lump of alien with a mouth full of sharp, snapping teeth. “Bloody hell”, Charlotte

“What is that?” Rose asked staring at it.

“You mean that thing's in charge of Satellite Five?” the Doctor asked.

“That ‘thing’, as you put it, is in charge of the human race”, the Editor corrected. The Doctor looked at him in alarm “For almost a 100 years, mankind has been shaped and guided, his knowledge and ambition strictly controlled by its broadcast news, edited by my superior, your master, and humanity's guiding light, the mighty Jagrafess of the Holy Hadrojassic Maxarodenfoe” the Jagrafess roars “I call him Max”. The Doctor smiles sarcastically and nods.

The trio’s captors then dragged them over to three sets of heavy manacles, Charlotte struggling even more. She wasn’t going to get restrained again! She wasn’t! The Doctor also fought harder, seeing the terrified look on the curly haired woman’s face. He knew what she went through and he also was very aware that she hadn’t yet fully recovered from Van Statten’s torture. Her body wasn’t going to be able to take anything like that again, not this soon.

Unfortunately it seemed that the ‘dead’ people had very tight grip on the three time travellers. They were forced into manacles. “Create a climate of fear…then it's easy to keep the borders closed”, the Editor explained “It's just a matter of emphasis. The right word in the right broadcast repeated often enough can destabilise an economy…invent an enemy…change a vote”.

“So all the people on Earth are like, slaves”, Rose said.

“Well, now, there's an interesting point. Is a slave a slave if he doesn't know he's enslaved?” the Editor asked.

“Yes”, the Doctor stated simply.

The Editor looked a bit put out “Oh. I was hoping for a philosophical debate. Is that all I'm going to get? Yes?”

“Yes”, the Doctor repeated.

The Editor pouted “You're no fun”, he said.

“Let me out of these manacles. You'll find out how much fun I am”, the Doctor threatened.

“Oh, he's tough, isn't he?” the Editor remarked “But, come on. Isn't it a great system? You've got to admire it, just a little bit”.

“But you can't hide something on this scale”, Rose spoke up “Somebody must have noticed”.

“From time to time, someone, yes, but the computer chip system allows me to see inside their brains. I can see the smallest doubt” the Editor made a fist “and crush it” he grins “Then they just carry on, living the life, strutting about downstairs and all over the surface of the Earth like they're so individual” the Doctor noticed Cathica out of the corner of his eye “when of course, they're not. They're just cattle. In that respect, the Jagrafess hasn't changed a thing”.

“What about you?” Rose asked “You're not a Jagrabelly…”

“Jagrafess”, Charlotte quietly corrected.

“Jagrafess. You're not a Jagrafess. You're human”, Rose pointed out.

“Yeah, well, simply being human doesn't pay very well”, the Editor said.

“But you couldn't have done this all on your own”, Charlotte said “its not possible”.

“No. I represent a consortium of banks. Money prefers a long-term investment. Also, the Jagrafess needed a little hand to um…install himself”, the Editor said.

“No wonder, a creature that size. What's his life span?” the Doctor asked.

“Three thousand years”, the Editor replied.

“That's one hell of a metabolism generating all that heat. That's why Satellite Five's so hot. You pump it out of the creature, channel it downstairs. Jagrafess stays cool, it stays alive. Satellite Five is one great big life support system”, the Doctor said. 

“But that's why you're so dangerous. Knowledge is power, but you remain unknown. Who are you?” the Editor gave a small laugh and clicks his fingers. The manacles restraining the trio sent electric shocks through them.

Charlotte’s body seized up, her face contorting with pain. “Leave them alone!” the Doctor shouted, seeing this “I'm the Doctor and they’re Rose Tyler and Charlotte. We're nothing, we're just wandering”.

“Tell me who you are!” the Editor shouted.

“I just said!” the Time Lord retorted.

“Yes, but who do you work for? Who sent you? Who knows about us? Who exactly…” the Editor broke off suddenly and the Doctor looked at him questioningly “Time Lord”.

“What?” the Doctor asked.

 “Oh, yes! The last of the Time Lords in his travelling machine”, the Editor said “Oh, with his little human girl from long ago and the young amnesiac with the ‘exotic’ accent…” he reaches for Charlotte’s face.

“Don’t touch her”, the Doctor snapped.

“He’s very protective of you, isn’t he Charlotte?” the Editor asked before he touched Charlotte’s face. The curly haired woman didn’t even react, in fact she was rather out of it.

“Some one’s been telling you lies”, the Doctor ground out, the Oncoming Storm simmering under the surface of his skin.

“Young master Adam Mitchell?” the Editor snapped his fingers, producing a screen that showed the young man in question writhing and screaming as information was forcibly removed from his mind.

“Oh, my God. His head!” Rose cried.

“What the hell's he done?” the Doctor said, his anger increasing “What the hell's he gone and done? They're reading his mind. He's telling them everything!” Oh, he was to _kill_ that boy! That stupid ape!

“And through him, I know everything about you”, the Editor smirked “Every piece of information in his head is now mine. And you have infinite knowledge, Doctor. The Human Empire is tiny compared to what you've seen in your T-A-R-D-I-S. TARDIS”.

“Well, you'll never get your hands on it. I'll die first”, the Doctor said. 

“Die all you like. I don't need you. I've got the key”, the Editor said and on the screen, the TARDIS key pulled out of Adam’s pocket.

The Doctor shot a glare at Rose “You and your boyfriends!”

“Today, we are the headlines. We can rewrite history. We could prevent mankind from ever developing”, the Editor said, with a triumphant look on his face.

“And no one's going to stop you because you've bred a human race that doesn't bother to ask questions. Stupid little slaves, believing every lie. They'll just trot right into the slaughter house if they're told it's made of gold” the Doctor said indirectly addressing Cathica who was still there. She left the room having come to a decision.

She made her way to floor 500’s Spike Room and tossed the corpse off the chair and sat down. “Disengage safety”, she commanded and the walls lit up around her. She ordered the room to override floor 139 where Adam was “And spike!”

Blue light streamed into her mind. She thought about everything she’d seen and was told. She thought about the hidden truth of Satellite 5. It was working. Icicles on floor 500 were starting to melt. “It's getting hot”, the Doctor commented noticing. The Editor tried to get Suki to terminate Cathica’s access but it wasn’t working.

All the screens suddenly explode with sparks and the ‘people’ who’d been working at the computers fall lifeless to the floor. Charlotte, Rose and the Doctor’s manacles come undone. The curly haired woman collapsed to the floor as manacles were really the only thing that had been keeping her upright after getting shocked.

The Doctor marched over to the Editor and punched him hard in the face. He then went back to Charlotte and Rose, carefully scooping up the former in his arms. The Time Lord stopped by the newsroom where Cathica was and closed her head with a snap of his fingers. The Doctor with Charlotte in his arms, Cathica and Rose headed back down to Floor 139.

The Time Lord assured Cathica that everything was going to move forward…that the human race was going to end up where it should have been before going back to the TARDIS. Rose and Adam followed, though the latter had this really bad feeling that he was about to be told off, big time.

\--------------------------------

The Doctor propelled Adam out of the blue box. “It's my house”, the British boy breathed “I'm home! Oh, my God, I'm home! Blimey. I thought you were going to chuck me out of an airlock”.

“Is there something else you want to tell me?” the Doctor asked, wanting to get this over with as quickly as possible due to the unconscious brunette that needed his attention inside the TARDIS.

“No…what do you mean?” Adam asked, ‘innocently’.

The Doctor went over to the telephone and picks it up “The archive of Satellite 5. One second of that message could've changed the world” he sonics the telephone making it explode. He then walked back to the TARDIS “That's it, then. See ya”

“How do you mean, ‘see ya’?” Adam questioned, confused.

“As in goodbye”, the Doctor elaborated.

“But…what about me? You can't just go. I've got my head. I've got a chip type two. My head opens”, Adam said.

“What, like this?” the Doctor snapped his fingers, opening Adam’s head.

“Don't”, he snapped his fingers, closing his head.

“Don't do what?” the Doctor asked, opening Adam’s head again with a second snap of his fingers.  

“Stop it!” Adam said angrily snapping his fingers again to close his head.

“All right now, Doctor, that's enough. Stop it”, Rose said wanting to stop what they were doing.

“Thank you”, Adam said grateful that he still had Rose on his side. Then the blonde snapped her own fingers. “Oi!” he protested, snapping his fingers again, closing the little door in his head.

Rose sniggered “Sorry, I couldn't resist”

“The whole of history could have changed because of you”, the Doctor said

“I just wanted to help”, Adam said feebly.

“You were helping yourself”, the Doctor retorted.

“And I'm sorry. I am, I really am, but you can't just leave me like this”, Adam said, his tone of voice still very feeble.

“Yes I can. ’Cause if you show that head to anyone, they'll dissect you in seconds. You'll have to live a very quiet life. Keep out of trouble. Be average, unseen. Good luck” the Doctor opened the TARDIS door.

“But I want to come with you!” Adam protested.

“I only take the best. I've got Rose and Charlotte”, the Doctor said.

Suddenly Adam’s mother came through the front door sending Adam into a panic “Rose…take me with you”, he pleaded in a last attempt. Rose just looked at him and went into the TARDIS without saying anything.

As soon as he’d put the ship into the Time Vortex, the Doctor went straight to Charlotte’s room. He scanned the young woman and results showed that the shock hadn’t done any serious damage. However, it did show that she was in some pain. The Doctor placed a hand over hers and focused. His hand started glow with regenerative energy and it seeped into Charlotte’s skin. The curly haired woman seemed to relax as if the regenerative energy helped sooth the pain she was feeling.


	11. England 1987

**Thanks to marissaiswholocked1011, BubblyFirefly47, animegal1357, SeleneAlice, Geek.Lily for following/faving my story.**

**NicoleR85: thanks!**

Rose walked into the kitchen to make a cup of tea and was surprised to see Charlotte sitting at the table, staring at two objects resting on it. “I thought you were still recovering”, the blonde remarked, going over to the kettle.

“I am”, Charlotte said, tearing her gaze away from the communicator and the necklace she’d been staring at for over an hour “I just needed to get away from my room for a little bit. Was starting to get rather sick of staying in bed”.

“How did you get out without the Doctor stopping you?” Rose questioned putting water into the kettle and flicking the switch to start it boiling.

“I had a little help”, Charlotte answered glancing up at the with a soft smile.

“So what are these then?” Rose asked moving over to the table, eyeing the objects on it.

“This is some sort of communicator thingie”, Charlotte answered “the Doctor gave it to me apparently”. Rose picked it up, turning it over in her hands.

“Looks like the cross between a pager and a radio”, she remarked “and you say the Doctor gave it to you?”

Charlotte nodded “Yeah, I guess I made such an impression when I first met him that he wanted to stay in touch”, she said.

“Did he tell you how the two of you met?” Rose asked, setting the communicator down.

“He said I helped him with a ‘little problem’”, Charlotte answered.

“Gee, like that’s not vague or anything”, Rose sassed.

Charlotte laughed “I know, right?” she said.

“So what about this?” Rose asked, picking up the necklace “its really pretty”.

“Thanks and before you ask, I have no idea who gave it to me”, Charlotte said “it was in my jacket pocket when I was found” Rose carefully put it back down onto the table “I just think if I stare at these things long enough that I might remember something”.

“And have you?” Rose queried.

Charlotte shook her head “’fraid not”, she sighed “I’m starting to think I might never remember”.

“Don’t say things like that”, Rose said “it’ll come back to you. You just got to give it time”.

“Yeah…I know”, Charlotte mumbled.

“You want a cup of tea?” Rose asked.

“Sure”, Charlotte replied. The blonde went back to the kettle, re-boiled it and got out two mugs. She poured water into both, added tea bags before she got out the carton of milk. Rose splashed a little into the mugs and then retrieved the teabags, dumping them into the bin. She picked up the mugs and brought them over to the table.

The pair drank their tea and relative silence until Charlotte noticed a thoughtful expression appear on Rose’s face. “Penny for your thoughts?” the woman said.

“Oh, I’m just thinking about my dad”, Rose said “wondering whether I should ask the Doctor if I could see him”.

“I’m sure he wouldn’t mind you visiting your dad”, Charlotte said taking a sip of her drink.

“Well…its not that simple. My dad died when I was a baby”, Rose told her. Charlotte’s face was one of sympathy.

“I’m so sorry Rose”, she said softly “do you mind telling me how it happened?”

“No, I don’t mind”, Rose took a breath “it was a hit and run. He was on his way to a wedding and he was struck by a car. By the time the ambulance got there, he was already dead”. Charlotte got up, moved around the table and wrapped her arms around the blonde who’d by this point had started to cry. “He died alone and I wish someone had been there for him”, Rose sniffled.

“What if you could be that someone?” Charlotte suggested and Rose looked up at her tearfully “that way you’ve got a piece of mind. Plus who’d be more fitting than his own daughter?”

Rose nodded “Yeah, I think you’re right”, she agreed. She wiped her eyes “thanks Charlotte”, she said.

“You’re welcome”, Charlotte said. They finished up their tea and then went to go find the Doctor. The pair quite literally ran into the Time Lord, the alien himself looking rather frantic.

“Charlotte! Are you ok? What were you doing out of bed?” the Doctor asked checking her over.

“I’m fine and I just needed to get away from my room for a bit. Was starting to get cabin fever”, Charlotte explained “anyway, Rose has a bit of a request for you”.

The Doctor turned to his other companion. “I’d like to go see my dad when he was alive”, Rose said. She then went onto explain the reason why.

“Are you sure?” the Doctor asked.

“I’m sure”, Rose said “but unless its against the laws of time or something…”

“No, it isn’t”, the Doctor assured her “I just wanted to make sure that this is what you definitely wanted to do”.

 “It Is”, Rose confirmed.

“Alright then”, the Doctor said.

\--------------

“It's so weird”, Rose said stepping out of the TARDIS, onto Waterley Street, their next stop after witnessing her parent’s wedding “The day my father died…I thought it'd be all sort of grim and stormy. It's just an ordinary day”.

“The past is another country. 1987's just the Isle of Wight” the Doctor said “are you sure about this Rosie?” Melanie.

“Yeah”, Rose replied. The trio walked the short distant to Jordan Road and waited for Pete Tyler to show up. “This is it. Jordan Road”, Rose said “He was late. He'd been to get a wedding present, a vase. Mum always said, that stupid vase” Pete’s car came around the corner “He got out of his car…” the car pulled up “…and crossed the road” and stopped “Oh, God. This is it”.

They watched Pete pick up the vase from the passenger seat, completely oblivious about what was going to happen. Rose bit her lip as her father exited his car, not seeing the beige vehicle coming right for him. The blonde pressed her face into Charlotte’s arm when the car hit Pete.

“Go to him”, Charlotte urged. Rose moved her face from her arm and looked at her father lying there. She wanted to go over to him but she couldn’t make herself move. Instead she bolted off in the opposite direction. Charlotte and the Doctor followed after her.

The blonde leant against the wall, shaking. “Guys I’m so sorry”, she said.

“Its ok”, Charlotte said gently. She understood why Rose couldn’t go to her father. The trio then heard sirens approaching.

“It's too late now…he was dead when the ambulance got there”, Rose said, her bottom lip wobbling “He _can’t_ die on his own. Can I try again?”

The Doctor hesitated. He knew it would be a bad idea having two sets of themselves in one place but the look on Rose’s face… he couldn’t say no.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Doctor, Rose and Charlotte stand out of sight, watching their first selves. “Right, that's the first us. It's a very bad idea, two sets of us being here at the same time. Just be careful they don't see us”, the Doctor told the girls “Wait till after she runs off and they follow, then go to your dad”.

For the second time, Pete’s car pulls up and comes to a stop. “Oh, God. This is it”, they hear the first Rose say.

Pete picks up the vase from the passenger seat. “I can't do this”, Rose whispered.

“You don't have to do anything you don't want to, but this is the _last_ time we can be here”, the Doctor told her. Rose stares at her father getting out of the car. She couldn’t watch him die again. She darts toward her dad only to be tackled to the floor by Charlotte, the woman quick to smother her cries with her hand so that they wouldn’t be noticed.

Rose thrashed under Charlotte but the curly haired woman wouldn’t let het up. She watched Pete get struck by the car again. Then she moved off of Rose. The blonde teen jumped up and saw her father lying on the ground. “Why did you stop me?!” Rose exclaimed rounding on Charlotte.

“You were about to do something that would’ve altered the past”, Charlotte told her.

“That was the whole idea!” Rose argued “my father didn’t deserve to die”.

“No he didn’t”, the Doctor said “and if you’d succeed in saving, the entire world would be different all because there was a man alive who wasn’t before. Charlotte was right to stop you”.

Rose glared at Charlotte “I hate you”, she spat before she ran over to her father.

“I was only trying to stop her doing something stupid”, Charlotte said quietly. The Doctor put an arm around her.

“I know”, he said gently “and she’ll forgive you. Just give her time”.

“I don’t think she will”, Charlotte said moving out from under his arm “I’m going to go back to the TARDIS, I’ll meet you there”. She didn’t even wait for a response before she turned and walked away.


	12. Stranger at the docks

Charlotte sat be the window, looking out at the street below. It had been two days since she’d decided to go home and in that time there had been no sign of the TARDIS.  “Was I wrong to come home?” she asked Sarah Jane, having heard the woman approach.

“No, you weren’t”, Sarah Jane replied, sitting down next to her.

Charlotte turned to her “Even if it means that I might never see the Doctor again?” she questioned.

“I highly doubt that’s the last time you’ll ever see him”, Sarah Jane assured her “sooner or later he’ll be back on Earth. And there’s also that communicator thing he gave you…”

“If I could figure it out”, Charlotte cut in.

“You will. You’re pretty smart”, Sarah Jane said.

“If I were smart, I probably wouldn’t have upset Rose so much by stopping her from saving her dad”, Charlotte shot back. She stood up and walked away a couple of steps, wrapping her arms around herself.

“But from what you told me, you stopping her prevented something really bad from happening”, Sarah Jane said “and I’m sure she’ll forgive you, in time”.

Charlotte shook her head “no, she won’t. By the way we left things on the TARDIS…she’ll never forgive me”, she said.

Seeing how upset the woman was, Sarah Jane decided to cheer her up “you know, there’s this case that came in a little earlier”, she informed her.

“Really?” Charlotte asked “where?”

“It’s back down by Portsmouth Docks. Someone reported a strange figure in the area”, Sarah Jane explained.

“I’m in”, Charlotte said “as long as some mutant fish squid thing doesn’t try to drown me again”.

“I’ll make sure that doesn’t happen”, Sarah Jane promised.

~Portsmouth Docks~

“Where did the witnesses say they saw this ‘figure’?” Charlotte asked as they got out of the car.

“It was mostly seen around storage warehouses”, Sarah Jane answered. The pair walked over to the area where they clambered over the chain linked fence.

“I know this isn’t the best thing to say but maybe we should split up”, Charlotte suggested “cover more ground”.

“Good idea. Meet back here in 10 minutes”, Sarah Jane said and Charlotte nodded. The curly haired woman headed off in one direction while Sarah Jane went off in the other. Her boots tapped along the wooden planks as she walked, all the while keeping her eyes out for the strange ‘figure’.

Charlotte paused when she heard a noise. “Hello?” she called and there was no response “Listen, I’m not going to hurt you. I just want to help”. There was a set small tentative footsteps behind her. Charlotte turned around to see a young girl standing there. “Hey”, the woman greeted softly, crouching down and held out her hand “it’s ok”, she assured her “I’m not going to hurt you”.

Charlotte waited patiently as the girl slowly shuffled towards her. The girl stopped and her eyes widened “Look out!” she cried.

The curly haired woman span around only to be back handed. Charlotte looked up to see a masculine figure completely covered in black except for the eyes and a red flame insignia on the sleeve. “Well, well. I came here for the girl and I find someone else equally important”, he said hauling her to her feet “I bet my employer will pay me double for you”.

Charlotte swiftly kneed him in the groin, forcing him to release her “Sorry pal, I’m not for sale”, she said “and neither is she”, she added nodding to the girl. The woman spotted a broken piece of pipe lying nearby and snatched it up, prepared to defend herself and the child.

The man straightened up and pulled off his mask to reveal an almost shaved head and pale face, marked with red tattoos “I’m Zhorin Jinn of the Crimson Fire and you really think a primitive weapon like that is going to help you best ME?” he asked.

Charlotte spun the pipe in her hand “Yep”, she replied. There was something about this guy that made her really want to knock him down a peg or 60. She barely flinched when he drew his weapon, a large blade with the same flame insignia that was on his sleeve.

The young girl, Aylin T’Soni, watched the pair trade blows with their weapons. She was not disappointed by the way the woman was handling herself. This was the Ziva that she’d heard about…that she’d aspired to be like.

Charlotte kicked Zhorin’s leg, bringing him down onto one knee. She quickly disarmed him and then whacked him around the face with the pipe, knocking him out cold. “Are you alright?” she asked the girl.

“I should be asking you that. He got in a good few blows”, Aylin remarked.

Charlotte rolled her shoulders “I’ll live”, she assured her “so what are we going to do with him?”

“I have an idea”, Aylin replied.

The girl’s idea involved Charlotte dragging Zhorin back to his small ship with the help of Sarah Jane, when they ran into her, and stuffed the alien inside. “Now we send him on his way, right?” the older woman asked as both Charlotte and Aylin explained as best as they could while taking Zhorin back to his ship what had just transpired.

“I think we should send a little parting gift with him. Something that tells the rest of Crimson Fire not to come after you, Aylin”, Charlotte said to the girl.

“Good idea”, Aylin agreed. She took out a little device, almost like a camera “this’ll record a video that we can transmit into his ship” she held it up, pointing it at Charlotte and nodded, indicating that it was recording.

“My name is Charlotte of the Planet Earth. I bested one of your members, Zhorin Jinn with a simple piece of pipe” she took a step closer to the camera “so listen very closely. Aylin T’Soni is under _my_ protection. Send anyone else and I’ll do to them what I did to him” she pointed at Zhorin. Aylin shifted the camera to take a clip of the unconscious alien before turning back to Charlotte “this is your first and only warning”.

Sarah Jane couldn’t help but smile at her mini speech. She reminded her a little of the Doctor. _Guess the Time Lord has rubbed off on her a little_ she thought. Aylin transmitted the message to the ship before she send it back into space.

“Did you mean it? What you said?” Aylin asked Charlotte as they walked back to Sarah Jane’s car.

“About you being under my protection?” Aylin nodded “yes, I mean every word. Those creeps want you, they’re gonna have to go through me”. The girl hugged Charlotte happily.

“Thank you!” she said. This was better than she hoped. Not only did she get to meet her idol but she was now going to be protected by her!

“You’re welcome sweetie”, Charlotte said rubbing her back “though I do have like a hundred questions for you”.

“And I’d be happy to answer all of them”, Aylin said with a smile.

\----------------------

~13 Bannerman Road~

“So, Aylin where are you from?” Sarah Jane asked, holding out a mug of tea to the girl.

“Thanks”, she said taking it “I’m from a planet called Amerath, my people are known as Qiwans. We have this little trick where if we get seriously hurt or die we can ‘resurrect’ between a few seconds to a few hours” Aylin showed them her tattoo, it was a row of three black dots and three rows of a single black line “this indicates how many lives we have left. Mine shows 18 which means that I’ve not lost a life yet”.

“How long do you live per life?” Charlotte questioned.

“No one really knows. Some elders…” Aylin trailed off “wait, don’t you already know this?” she asked.

“Uh if I knew I wouldn’t be asking”, Charlotte told her, slightly confused as to why she would think that.

“But you’re like me”, Aylin said.

“No, I’m not. I’m 100% human”, Charlotte insisted “a friend of mine did a test and everything”.

“Hold on a second, it could be possible”, Sarah Jane said “you did lose your memory”.

“Yeah but how can losing my memory make me human? It’s impossible”, Charlotte stated.

“Memory loss doesn’t make you human. But a chameleon arch would”, Aylin said “it’s a device that can rewrite your biology. Its incredibly painful process to go through…or so I’ve heard”, she explained “and it can change your memories too but your real ones get stored safely away in a container. Mostly fob watches or antique lockets”.

“Charlotte didn’t have any like that on her when we first met”, Sarah Jane said.

“But what if it had been in the pod or ship that I came to Earth in?” Charlotte asked “I looked like I’d come from a car wreck…which means whatever I travelled in could be destroyed! My memories could be gone for good!”

“I highly doubt that. Your real memories would have been given to someone you trust for safe keeping”, Aylin assured her “the only problem would be getting back to Amerath. As far as I know this planet doesn’t have the means”.

“I know someone who does”, Charlotte said “and it’ll be pretty easy to get him to help”.

“Well, there is one other small problem. Our planet isn’t exactly safe. It’s why my parents sent me away”, Aylin informed her. Charlotte sat back, shoulders sagging. “But while I might not be able to restore your memories, I can still tell you everything about our planet. And I know a little about you and your family”, the young Qiwan continued.

Charlotte smiled “Thanks”, she said, really grateful.


End file.
